


I Have a little Brother?

by ChimamireHissori



Series: Chaos from the Underworld [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Clingy little brother, F/M, Gen, Hari has a knack for teaching, Hari has a meltdown, Horacrux? what Horacrux?, Labyrinths get confusing, M/M, Nico freaks out, Nico gets fed up with a ghost, Prophecies, The Ministry has issues, The toad lady
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:41:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26296588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChimamireHissori/pseuds/ChimamireHissori
Summary: Hari’s summers are usually quite boring, add in demi-gods and that changed in an instant. Suddenly she’s playing with Labyrinths and chasing after a little brother she never thought she’d get to know. It was going to make the school year quite boring in comparison… She hoped. Cue the Fates messing with her, again.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger/Viktor Krum, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Chaos from the Underworld [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907884
Comments: 10
Kudos: 200





	1. Chapter 1

The moment they arrived in the Underworld and the car was parked Hari opened Hedwig’s cage setting the owl loose. Hedwig took to the Underworld easily enough being her familiar. Hari’s magic apparently had been altering her make up since the beginning of their bond making it so that she was an extension of Hari meaning she could eat all the bacon from the Underworld that she wanted and still fly in the above world all the same.

Hari passed out shortly after dinner which was the usual food in the Underworld. She woke up in her favorite pajamas to Max at her feet snoring. She chuckled. Her maid was pouring something into the water of her bath, it had an odd shimmer to it now that wasn’t there before.

“Princess, if you would like to bathe, please wait a little longer, it is not ready” she said quietly

Hari nodded curling up again. She dozed off for what must have been a few hours. Hari grumbled as she was getting shaken awake. She cracked open an eyelid to see her maid leaning over her.

“Princess, it’s time to wake up”

Hari groaned. She was warm and comfy.

“Princess!” came the whine as Hari tried to fall asleep again.

“Max, Help get her out of bed… Don’t go back to sleep too!” They were apparently exasperating the maid “This is all the King’s fault. Why did he have to pass this trait on!?” the maid stomped her foot annoyed. She sighed “Fine”

Hari woke on her own. Her maid was no where in sight so Hari took the time to wear normal clothes after her bath. She made it to the dining hall all on her own. Hades looked up at her blinking as if he himself just rolled out of bed. His hair certainly looked like it.

“Good gods. Did you two just wake up?” Persephone asked walking in with all the energy the two born Underworld royals couldn’t muster together.

Hari was already reaching for the teapot put there specifically for her.

“So, it’s now night time, you doing anything?” Persephone asked picking at her food.

“I think so” Hari muttered into her breakfast/dinner.

Persephone sighed “Fine. I have to go play nice with my mother again… Urg” She kissed her husband and her step-daughter before leaving.

“You have homework?” Hades asked

“I’ll do it later” Hari muttered

“Your favorite horse is ready to ride if you’re up for it”

Hari perked up. Riding through the Underworld to see what had changed was a good plan. She finished eating, kissed her father’s cheek before running to her room to put on proper riding clothes and armour, never forget armour in the Underworld. She also had a bag of food and her new sword because that was a thing that had been waiting for her when she got home, along with a second knife.

Hari was seriously pleased when she got to the stables to find Skiá already saddled and ready to go. The shadow mare was waiting impatiently for her to get on. Hari swung up with a quick boost from a stable hand. The pair were off.

Hari let out a whoop. Riding Skiá was like flying. However, on her ride she stopped to find someone had built a fire on the bank of the Styx. She slipped off Skiá and went over to the coals. They were cold, but only a day or so old. What sort of being needed a fire in the Underworld? Hari got back on her horse and Skiá picked up the trail. The being that was making the fires had made a rather easy trail to follow. She finally reached the being… no demi-god. 

“Stay back!” the kid snapped pulling out a switch blade, an actual switch blade.

She eased the reins and settled her snorting mare with a pat on her neck. “You’re the one from my dreams” Hari blurted out seeing the face. His hair was longer, shaggy to his shoulders. He’d ditched the orange shirt and replaced it with a black one and an aviator jacket.

He tensed and looked ready to bolt. Hari slipped off her horse and approached with her hands in the air. His eyes went wide as she was finally visible to him. If he had the same sight she did, then the shadows when she was mounted were hard to see though but this close, most details were visible. A little closer and it was fully visible.

“You’re from the nightmares”

Hari frowned tilting her head a little confused “Nightmares?”

“The dragon, the creepy mermaids, the massive spider, the graveyard was really neat though” The boy blurted out.

“You saw that?” she squeaked out blushing.

He nodded though he did relax looking at her with narrowed eyes. Skiá snorted and ended up nudging him. He looked seriously shocked “Animals don’t like me” he muttered

“She’s not really normal. She’s a shadow horse. They’re pretty much dead and ghosts… though not at the same time” Hari said

A stomach growling caught all their attentions. The boy blushed bright red.

“I know I have some surface food in here still” She muttered opening her satchel.

The boy’s eyes went wide and all pretenses of nervousness vanished. She pulled out a granola bar and let him eat that. He devoured it in seconds.

She blinked then smiled sadly. She’d been like that before too. She sat down and started pulling things out of her bag. The bag one she’d sent Winky to buy for her when she’d sent the house elf to get the Galleons for the twins. It had an undetectable expansion charm on it, and it was brilliant. She’d filled it before leaving Hogwarts and after she returned to the Underworld. She’d hand the boy things that would either be eaten or tucked into a pocket. She smiled then frowned.

Hari stood up and removed her sword. It was itching at her. She held it by the chain belt it was strung on. “If you are going to stay in the Underworld, you need a proper weapon” she stated holding it out for him. He looks at her confused. She smiled at him. He took he sword even putting it on. They sat back down. She then went back to pulling things back out of her satchel.

“Why are you being nice to me?” The boy asked cautious but curious.

She smiled sadly at him “I’ve been where you are. Someone helped me get out of it, but I think you want to save yourself. We are always more independent then the others”

“You’re a half-blood” His said

“Hari” she said offering him her hand

“Nico” he said shyly shaking her hand. Well it more like grasping their hands together then letting go. They smiled as they both shared that instinctive need to pull away from people.

“Do you know who my father is?” Nico asked

Hari smiled softly “Yes, you’ve been here for at least a month, and you’ve been summoning ghosts” she said gesturing to his companion who had almost been hiding from her. “King Minos, are you not supposed to be judging this month?”

The ghost gave her a pissed off look. “I’ve been released due to being summoned” He stated

“He’s a cantankerous old man, far too egotistical to truly trust” Hari stated smiling and shaking her head as if disappointed.

Nico gave a giggle and covered his mouth with a hand shocked he’d made the noise at all. She smiled at him then brushed his hair out of his eyes. It was such a sisterly thing to do they both were shocked by it.

Hari blushed shooting to her feet. “Sorry” she squeaked out blushing brighter as the seconds passed.

Nico gave her the saddest smile ever. He started crying. She didn’t even think about it. She knelt and wrapped her arms around him. He sobbed into her chest. Her armour had to be seriously hard and painful to cry on. He was apparently so exhausted that he passed out from crying so hard. Hari gave a look to Minos. “Be Gone” She said waving her hand temporarily banishing the ghost.

She looked at Skiá. The mare knelt for her. Hari lifted the far too light boy and set him into the saddle then got on behind him. She thanked her mare who stood up with them on her back. She then galloped to the palace. She said nothing as her father spotted the boy in front of her when she arrived at the stables. 

“Found your younger half-brother, I see” Hades stated

“You knew he was wandering in the Underworld?” Hari asked

Hades nodded. He looked sadly at the boy. “He’s too young that our law of non-interference applies to him. However, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t protecting him. My father still does not know either of you exist. I do not know how long that will last with you coming of age, Aidonea”

Hari nodded “Can I bring him to the palace?”

Hades nodded. “I’ll have proper clothing brought for him to the room across from your own. It’s empty anyway” Hades stated then walked away. “Dinner will be soon.”

Hari smiled as a pair of dead helped her and her little brother off her horse. She followed the dead Marine who was carrying Nico in his arms. She opened the door to her room and the Marine laid him on her bed. It would be better if he woke in a place that looked lived in. She after all had barely unpacked… it was mostly scattered around the room as she looked for certain things. Max jumped on the bed and curled up partly with Nico. On head draped over his legs and the other two tucked around him.

Hari returned after eating to find him sitting up rubbing his eyes. “Here” she said offering a glass of water.

He drank it all in three gulps. “Where am I?” he asked looking confused

“My room. You’re in Hades’ palace.” she explained as she sat on the bed tucking one foot under the other leg.

“Why did you bring me here!?” he demanded shocked and scared

“Because you passed out and needed a safe place to rest. As My little brother that right is yours here in the palace”

“Wait, little brother?”

“Yes, you’re my half-brother, we share a father” Hari explained then curled up farther on the bed. Max moved and laid a head on her lap. Nico’s eyes went wide as another head decided his lap was a great place to rest. Nico got over his shock of giant rottweiler head in his lap and gave the two heads in reach ear scratches.

“Cerberus is a Rottweiler?” he asked completely stunned. He’d apparently never gone through the proper entrance or he’d have known that.

“Yes, this is Max though, one of his pups. Father gave him to me for my birthday last year” Hari explained

Nico looked at her wide eyed “How old are you?”

“Fourteen” She replied “I’m fifteen at the end of the month”

“Wait, actually?”

“Well, I was technically born before most of the Olympian council but I was stolen and ended up in this time” 

The door opened to reveal her maid. “The Prince’s clothing and room has been fully prepared if he would like to bathe”

“Wait, Prince?” Nico asked

“Well, you are a Prince of the Underworld. And the only male so far.” Hari said “You can take Max with you if it makes you feel safer.”

Nico nodded and got out of her bed. Max trotted after him and they went across the hall to Nico’s new bedroom. To say he’d been expecting what he walked into was lacking in actuality. He was seriously awed. He looked at the water and took a bath, he sighed as the water enveloped him. He felt clean for the first time in months. All the tension slipped from him. There was a dead woman standing there with a towel for him. Nico was a little unnerved by her standing there. He was glad however that he got pants and a… nope he was wearing a dress overtop. The robe was sort of cool as it draped off him. He did feel like he was playing dress up though.

He was escorted to the Dining Hall. Hari was sitting there doing something with books. He frowned not all that interested. “What are you doing?” Nico asked anyway

Hari sighed and slumped over her papers. “Homework” she whined “Father decided I needed to relearn all the math I should have known over the last few years.”

Nico snickered as he ate.

“So, you up for taking a trip to the above world?” Hari asked looking around like she wanted to sneak out.

“Yes” He said “I… I want a second opinion. King Minos wants me to bring my sister back with a soul owed to Hades… but…”

“You want to hear if it’s possible another way” Hari said

“You don’t think I can do it” He said accusatory.

“That’s not it” Hari said sighing leaning back in her chair. “Your sister… she’s in Elysium, with your mother”

Nico looked at her with wide eyes. He hadn’t been aware of that information.

“I watched her judgement. Their reunification.” Hari wasn’t looking at him but at her books. “I… I don’t think it’s right to take her from that. I’ve dreaded going over there in case I see my adoptive parents. I don’t want to feel like my heart is being ripped out. I think it’s worse thinking they might be in the Fields of Punishment.”

Nico looked seriously depressed. “When can we leave?” he asked quietly.

She looked at her wrist. “Tonight. It’s like seven in the morning and I don’t want to deal with daylight” Hari stated

Nico blinked at her then laughed. This was the first person he’d met who agreed with his hatred for daylight. Bianca had actually liked mornings.

They crashed as Hari was yawning. She’d been sleeping a lot lately. She went to bed. She woke up in her favorite pajamas to Nico and Max both in her bed snoring. She chuckled. Hari curling up around her cute little brother. She dozed off, her little brother, she had a little brother! In her arms.

That Morning for the Underworld, but night in the above world, they rode Skiá up to the surface. Hari was getting pretty good at shadow travelling out of the Underworld, Skiá was going to have to take them back however. Not that the mare was all that bothered by it. 

They surfaced in a cemetery. Hari knew exactly where she was… but she had no idea _where_ she was. It was seriously confusing. Nico laughed at her. He seemed to know where he was if it were true. They were in a little no where town in the United States of America… that was a shock. Minos found them and ended up having a glaring contest with Hari.

“So, for a raising?”

“An offering of food and drink are required.” Hari answered still glaring at Minos.

“Alright, we need to go shopping” Nico stated

Hari broke off her glaring contest. She then pointed to the exit, “We can leave Skiá and canker sore here for that” 

Nico nodded almost annoyed at her borderline orders but walked with her. No one questioned them going into the Walmart. They picked up no brand Coca-Cola, because it worked, it was also on sale, not that it really mattered as they grabbed two twelve packs. Then they looked at the McDonalds in the Walmart. Hari offered to buy him food as she’d never actually eaten there before. Nico gave her the look of disbelief as if she was nuts either for never eating here or in reality not making him try to eat healthy.

They ended up buying one each for themselves then four more for their summoning after they had eaten. The guy at the counter hadn’t said a word to them about it as he was too underpaid to care. The only question he asked was which toys they wanted. 

They went back to the cemetery with their offerings. Nico summoned two skeletons to dig. Minos had made them dig a good amount down. Hari absently snapped her fingers to get the mist to wrap around them. It was a trick aunt Hestia taught her in one of her first lessons when she was learning tricks using her fire. Now people would only see two kids sitting on the grass talking to a grave. Nothing too odd.

Hari was tempted to banish Minos, but Nico had summoned him so she could only send him away temporarily. He was trying to keep Nico from asking for a second opinion and she didn’t like him knowing what he was. 

Hari was sitting on the grass giving Skiá nose rubs as she listened to Nico and Minos bicker. Minos was trying and failing to convince Nico he was all he needed. It was only pissing Nico off. Hari had learned that telling a child of Hades they weren’t allowed to do something just made them want to do it more.

Nico thanked the two skeletons he’d summoned before dismissing them with respect. She smirked as her stone hit Minos making him snap at her after making a comment about shovels having the same sense as the skeletons. Nico gave a small smile. Then he got to making the offering. He started pouring the cans of cola in then dumped a happy meal into the grave. He had a mini argument about method of offering with Minos and Hari hit Minos with another rock. She wasn’t about to tell him she was hitting the ghost with grave marker pieces.

Hari whistled impressed as he summoned way more then he needed. His power was there, his control not so good. He was scared of what he could do. He used his new sword/ her old one, to control his power and to scare off the weak dead. Then he allowed one strong one through. Theseus. In his 14-year-old form. It was entertaining to say the least. Apparently, soda and chips went over well with the dead.

Theseus told Nico not to go after his sister, that it would be madness and dangerous before something started going wrong. Skiá was starting to freak out getting nervous. The light started to become blinding. Hari grabbed Nico and they were shadow traveling back to the Underworld. They fell into the hay in the stables. Skiá snuffing at their faces. They both lay back sighing, shaking from the adrenaline and the fear coursing through them. 

“Okay, before you try that again, we need to work on your control” Hari said then giggled

Nico was right beside her. They were grinning when their father stood over them in the stable hay. Nico’s face dropped and he looked very… not quite nervous, but also not quite angry either.

“Hi Dad” Hari said

“Whatever you two were doing, I felt it down here” Hades stated not annoyed per say and trying not to be mildly impressed.

They both looked sheepish. “Sorry” they said

He raised an eyebrow and walked away making them both lose the tension they were holding under his gaze. He was shaking his head when a small chuckle escaped. Hari had a feeling they weren’t the ones that Shadow traveled them but Hades who had interfered bringing them to safety.

They giggled again getting out of the straw. They wandered back to the palace. Nico wasn’t exactly eating. Hari frowned but it was confirmed he was of the Underworld so she sort of forced him to eat. But then he vanished again.

Nico had done it while she was doing her homework, both from her father and from school. She felt Nico summon the dead again, maybe the same one as before. She was frowning. She packed her bag and that was it. She was mounted on Skiá and they were off. Her father didn’t argue with her decision, merely giving her three sharp dragon teeth. “Grave dirt and blood” he said and watched her go. She felt more then heard the protection spell their father placed on her and Nico. 

Skiá shadow traveled her to Nico’s location, it was a poor excuse for a ranch. Nico looked up at her shocked as she sat there regal and pissed off. The demi-god son of Ares standing beside him dropped to one knee, the Stygian Iron circlet on her head was enough to stop most people dead even without the opal set into it. Nico sort of understood from the pressure she was filling the air with. This was pure power and she was pissed. She swung down and started lecturing Nico for not at least writing a Hades damned note!

The son of Ares actually looked at her horrified. The earth was trembling and it scared him and the animals. 

“Sorry” Nico muttered

She softened and sighed “So am I. I’m not used to this idea of having my own family and being suddenly so protective of them” She gave a weak smile “Give me time?”

Nico nodded then sort of burst into tears. Hari just pulled him into a huge. To say the two of them were tiny on the ground was an understatement. Neither of them was over 5 feet. “Thanks for keeping an eye on him” Hari said to the Texan Cowboy beside them. He was exactly what she imagined an American was supposed to look like from all the attitude people gave about them.

“Yeh can thank me with a little help, how about it?” The cowboy said.

Hari gave a sharp nod. Nico was staring at her awed as was the Cowboy who after the shock wore off introduced himself as Eurytion. Hari smiled “Everyone calls me Hari” she said and shook his hand, he jolted from the touch. She was freezing even in this heat. Both Hades kids, as that’s what they were, were wearing jackets in the middle of summer and they were still cold to the touch. The worst part, neither seemed to notice or care.

What startled the two guys was the wand and her quick, like insanely quick spell work as she cleaned the area even placing spells to make it easier to clean. He would have to replace the spell work after a while but Eurytion didn’t care, it made his life easier for the transition. Hari frowned looking at the man-eating horse area. “They look like the bastard children of the winged horses at school” she muttered crouching down near the entrance of the stable.

“You have man-eating winged horses?”

“They are carnivorous from what I’ve managed to figure out. But not man-eating per say” Hari said

“Do they look cool?” Nico asked squatting beside her his eyes shining with curiosity.

Hari grinned “Wicked cool” she said excited “They are these skeletal horses with draconic looking heads and leathery bat wings.”

Nico looked at her with wide excited eyes.

“You mean you have a herd of Thestrals at your school?” the man looked actually horrified

Hari nodded “Yeah, they pull the carriages”

Eurytion actually full-body twitched “Are you insane, Girl?”

“Hey, they’ve been there longer then me” Hari countered frowning

“Have you touched one before?”

Hari nodded “A little. No one else seemed to be able to see them so I didn’t want to look weird giving them a lot of attention.”

Eurytion actually smacked himself in the face with his hand at her cluelessness. “Hey, why not? You ride a shadow horse like you were born too”

“Skiá likes me, she’s actually sort of claimed me according to Dad”

Eurytion was twitching again “Yeh know what little lady, yer completely outta yer mind” 

Hari smiled “I get told that a lot” she gave a small sigh

The demi-god immortal shook his head “Outta yer mind. Completely gonzo”

Hari looked at Nico and shrugged. Hari flicked her wand once more and the floor was spotless once again after what looked like three days worth of horse waste. 

They stayed in the ranch house that night. Nico was laying beside her on the big bed staring at the ceiling. “I summoned Bianca.” He admitted quietly

“Did you say good-bye or are you going to keep trying to bring her back?”

“Both” he muttered

Hari rolled onto her stomach and lifted herself up a little with her elbows “Alright, now. I want to know something. Your ghost, do you know who he is?”

Nico shook his head.

Hari sighed “Minos, was a King of Crete. He was the one from the Greek legends that sent seven boys and seven girls from Athens, a conquered city he controlled, into the Labyrinth to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. He was a tyrant but he was appointed as a Judge of the Underworld because he was a beneficent ruler, legislator, and suppressor of piracy and that his ruling constitution was said to have formed the basis of that of Lycurgus for Sparta. He was still a very shrewd, vengeful person even in death. He was a degenerate of a human as he aged.”

“You don’t like him” Nico stated turning his head from the ceiling to her.

“I don’t.” Hari stated wrinkling up her nose “He’s a manipulative bastard of a human being. He’s the one who imprisoned the Labyrinth’s creator Daedalus using Icarus, his son, as leverage. Minos died because of being such a …” Nico assumed it was going to be a nasty word she used but ended up giggling as she called King Minos. “Twatwaffle”

“Why don’t you banish him then?” Nico asked

“I can’t, he’s bound to you as his summoner. He has his uses… but never trust him to do anything for you without getting something in return.”

“He told me I could bring back the dead by offering a soul that had escaped Death in return” Nico stated

“You can. But is it your sister or him who will be remade as a living person?” Hari asked

Nico’s eyes went wide “Wait, you think he would cheat me of my sister?” Nico asked scared and pissed off

“I know he will, to live once more he’d do a lot worse.” Hari stated “You have to be really careful with the dead. They will do anything to live once more. You have to control the dead perfectly or they will manipulate you. Do you believe you have full control over Minos?”

Nico looked scared and shook his head “I don’t know how much control I have over him” Nico admitted quietly.

“Then believe you have none. Be careful of anything he tells you and be prepared for him to betray you” Hari stated seriously.

“You hold grudges too?” Nico asked rolling over hugging his pillow.

“Yes, Combined with my curiosity I’m worse than a Cerberus with a Greek for a chew toy. I have to know everything. I’ve been pissing off my Head of House for years with that little issue… though it does explain why I get into so much trouble” She muttered thinking about it.

Nico started laughing into his pillow, mostly to cover up the noise as he was laughing pretty damn hard.

They did crash for a bit; they woke up with the two headed dog barking at their door. They were curled up around each other like it was perfectly normal. They both rolled out of bed yawning. Hari was frowning as she looked in the kitchen… “Do you even bother to eat?” She asked standing there without most of her armour. Though both guys were gawking at the leather braces on her forearms. The bronze inlays were amazing.

“Course, Meats in the fridge”

She looked at him with an unimpressed raised eyebrow. She pulled a bunch of things out of the cupboards and started cooking. The room smelled like breakfast in minutes. She had bacon going on the stove, like the whole full-sized monster pack. She was whipping up pancake batter like it was mindless for her. Hari made the most gleeful noise as Eurytion brought out a griddle from no where placing it on the stove for her.

He was looking at her confused and seriously awed as she was whipping out pancakes like she lived too cook. He hadn’t even been aware they had chocolate chips in the entire ranch but she found them. He seriously questioned where this girl came from, to live to… “Girl, how old are you?”

“Technically 14” Hari replied finishing the last of the batter off and putting the STACK of pancakes on the table. “I turn fifteen at the end of the month” She’d already served the bacon by that point. She grabbed a plate and filled it… he noticed both Hades kids didn’t seem to eat a whole lot. Seriously, he’s seen Aphrodite’s daughters eat more then these two.

“So, I noticed the sacred cattle… are a little… too numerous” Hari said

“Yeah, the old boss wasn’t a nice person” Eurytion stated

Hari looked out the window at the cherry red cattle. “Their numbers are going to need to be seriously culled”

“They were being bred for food” Nico stated between bites

“That’s a little more then Olympus is going to need” Hari stated

“It was for the Titans” Eurytion stated

Hari looked thoughtful “We could do just that… but I’m going to need to talk to our cousin”

“What are yeh planning little Miss?”

“Pick out the worst of them, the most likely to die soon. Set a poison into their system and feed them to the enemy.” Hari stated “It’s not like they die properly anyway”

“Yer a nasty little witch.” Eurytion said with a grin “What kind of poison?” he asked leaning forward a little excited now.

Hari was frowning at her flapjacks. “Ah Hell, we’ll just used one of Mum’s mushrooms. Those things are nasty to eat” she stated after some thought

“Mum, mushroom?” Eurytion asked

Hari smiled “Our step-mother grows poisonous mushrooms in the Underworld” she stated like he was dumb.

The war demigod looked at her horrified “You’re going to feed titans Underworld mushrooms?”

She smiled “Yep” she chirped “Nico come help me. We’ll need a lot of them, and It’s easier to talk to Apollo when he’s visiting Dad”

Eurytion was twitching again “Girl, do yeh have this warped sense of reality or do yeh really think Apollo will see yeh in the Underworld?”

“He’s already done it three times for me. I think I give him an excuse to talk with Dad” Hari said standing up eating her last piece of bacon. Nico was finishing his last pancake before they put the dishes on the counter to be washed.

Nico and Hari shared Skiá again as they traveled to the Underworld. Hades was howling in laughter as she told him the plan. Which lead to an Iris message to Apollo who cam down because he had to be hearing that wrong.

Hari had Apollo looking at them both stunned in awe, and horrified. “Only a death child would figure that out” Apollo stated shaking his head in disbelief he had heard that all right.

“Yeah, we’re not right in the head.” Hari stated smiling leaning forward. “So, you in for the plan?”

“Go ahead” The two gods stated amused

“And Find Nico a proper mount, not have him ride with you all the time”

“Can we borrow a chariot too?” Hari called back as they headed out.

“Not until he learns how to ride”

The siblings shared a look as grins spread across their faces then they were off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you encouraging them or endangering them?” Apollo asked his uncle

“A little of both” Hades replied “How do you think my children survive so long with no one knowing they exist?”

“Hey, Uncle. How many children have you had?” Apollo asked curious

“Thirteen” he replied “Two are currently living.”

Apollo stared at him stunned. His father and his other uncle had had that many in a single generation, let alone as a total. Shit no wonder… Hang on a second “When were your children born?”

“Aidonea was born when Pandora came here to ease her Punishment. Nico and his full sister Bianca were before World War Two. And if I count Hazel… she was born shortly after World War One.”

“The others?”

Hades looked at the wall, it wasn’t a good question as he looked seriously depressed “Three hundred years after Aidonea’s disappearance and about ten years before World War One.”

Apollo blinked “How many have you claimed?”

“Five” Hades stated “Three of them I killed myself. Zeus’s idiotic mortal children have taken out three of them.”

“The other three?”

Hades looked at him “One was taken out for grave robbing… not surprising, he was wrong in the head. Another was taken out by his … um sister? She used him for food at one point because she thought that was a great idea when they were starving. The sister wasn’t mine. And the other one… Makaria … she…” Hades was frowning looking weirded out, it was hard but it happened.

“What did she do?” Apollo asked

Hades looked at his nephew “She decided it was a great idea to raise an army and march on Sparta.”

“How long did that last?”

“About as long as it took to get there” Hades sighed and scratched the back of his head “She fell in love with one of the Spartan men there and decided she was guarding it rather then taking it over. I’m not really sure what happened before she became a minor Goddess but she reproduced… which I have to say was the first out of all my children. I wasn’t even sure it was possible due to the fact they seem to die before they hit reproduction age if they aren’t just homosexual.”

Apollo snickered at the affronted look his uncle was wearing. “What’s wrong with being gay?”

“That’s not my problem. They just die so… easily…”

That’s what was bothering him as he’d lost two daughters, he cared for, in the last seventy years only having two living children who seemed far too willing to get into trouble.

“I do hope my forges can finish their bloody armour before the war. Hers is far to light and he’s missing everything but a breast plate.” Hades started muttering. “Hell, Nico is even using her sword. That’s going to need to be fixed.”

Apollo vanished in a burst of light he started laughing so hard at the Great Hades turning into a mother hen with no one to see him do it. Apollo knew no one would believe him if he told them this. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The siblings got to the stables holding a whole bunch of the mushrooms they needed. They took separate horses this time as one of the stallions took to Nico instantly. They shadow travelled back to the Ranch and they started their work. Hari was grinding the mushrooms up into an odd paste that she had Nico, wearing gloves, smear onto the meat Eurytion had already butchered. It didn’t do anything to the colour of the meat but they could tell when it soaked in as it seemed to dampen the magic in the sacred cattle. It was actually seriously unnerving to say the least.

They spent almost a week doing this. They had the herd culled to the healthiest of cows. Hari was teaching Nico how to select the most likely to die. Learning to sense their life force and look past his perspectives of the world.

Eurytion shipped the meat out then cancelled all orders to the Titan army. He even managed to block them from accessing the Ranch. Hari had helped with that. But around that point Nico was told by Minos that his friends were in danger. Hari woke to Nico missing.

Eurytion iris-messaged some girl named Annabeth about Nico going missing. He showed Hari how to do it and she remembered. However, she also informed him that she was going after Nico. He blinked as she was now wearing a black breastplate, and twin knifes. That’s also when he noted the bow and quiver.

“I won’t stand in yer way, little miss”

She nodded then was off. Hari noted that their horses had not returned after being set back to the Underworld. Eurytion showed her how to get in the Labyrinth. Hari entered the tunnel into the Labyrinth. She was so going to give Nico an earful when she found him, right after hugging him. She’d at least prepared for this with her bag. She didn’t even need to summon anything from the Underworld.


	2. Chapter 2

Hari felt awkward running around with her invisibility cloak but when she landed herself into an arena because there was nothing else to call the sight before her. It was gruesome even after being in the Underworld. She wasn’t squeamish and even she didn’t want to go anywhere near the spiked heads or the ones hanging from the chains over the arena.

The fight was something to see. This gave her an idea on what to expect because it wasn’t what she thought. The only demi-gods she’d ever been near were dead or her sibling. The monsters had never been able to hurt her when she was the ruling force. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

When the Hellhound arrived at the Call of a Stygian ice whistle. She added to the chaos a moment later. She followed four teens because the fly away ginger seemed to know where she was going. This was not leading her to Nico though, which pissed her off to no end. She could sense him in the Labyrinth by she couldn’t pinpoint him and it annoyed her but she figured those who had Nico would want these ones too. She kept just behind them. It felt like flying but more work. She was surprised none of them saw her when the cloak flared, or maybe she was using the shadows to hide otherwise.

They reached a room with old Greek columns in a room the size of a school gymnasium. One of the boys pulled off his helmet and called them all crazy. She almost agreed with him but, she’d done worse.

She learned the one boy had no love for the Gods then he ran off. The ginger was frowning looking at where Hari was standing. Like she knew something was there but not what. She’d have to be careful.

“Who’s there?” the ginger called out as she got scared. The other two were looking around seeing the ginger was nervous.

They all jumped when she took off her hood. She opened her arms wide so they could see under the cloak. “I heard you say Nico” she said. It was one of the reasons she’d stayed after the eyepatch kid had left.

They tensed

“He’s my brother” she stated

“You’re not Bianca” the lone boy in the group said

“You also sound British. Nico’s American”

“Actually, he’s not and we’re half siblings” Hari stated 

“Nico sounds American” the boy stated glaring

“He’s not. Trust me, you get him going and Italian comes out” Hari stated smiling

“So, you want to find Nico, then why follow us?” the blonde asked

Hari growled. “It was the best I could manage in the chaos of the Arena. I figured you’d meet up with him given enough time and the blond guy wanting you dead. He’s the type that would use a hostage”

The blonde girl twitched but didn’t argue. “Let’s make camp here.”

None of them argued with her. Hari then dug in her bag. She was pulling food out which surprised them. She was checking it for something then offered it to them.

“Is that Nectar?” the boy asked

Hari looked at him blinking “Yes” she said quietly she pulled out three canteens of it from her bag that shouldn’t have fit two of them.

“And Ambrosia” the blonde stated shocked picking up the Tupperware container of the little squares. Then she drained of all colour “are those pomegranate seeds?”

“Yes” Hari stated. She opened the spin top and popped a couple of seeds in her mouth. Then closed it again tucking it into her lap so the others wouldn’t touch them.

“What’s wrong with Pomegranate seeds?” the ginger asked

“The legend of Persephone” Hari stated “I’m Hari by the way”

“Rachel”

“Percy”

The blonde glared “Annabeth” she finally said.

Hari nodded “Oh and relax I’ve only given you Overworld food” Hari smirked

“Over… Oh” Percy finally figured it out. “Wait, that’s true?”

Hari nodded

“What?” the ginger asked not a demi-god but something else entirely. She reminded Hari strongly of girl at Hogwarts, not that they’d ever had the chance to talk.

“Eating anything from the Underworld binds you to it” Hari stated then leaned back. “I’m going to catch a few minutes of sleep. If you don’t mind” she stated

She knew she crashed because she was hearing different voices not Percy and Rachel talking. She saw Nico in chains. Minos had done exactly as she expected. The Bastard had betrayed her little brother. She woke up to the earth shaking. She grabbed her gear like the others and they were sprinting for the tunnel.

They reached it in time to watch a column crumble. They kept running following Rachel.

“You know what?” Annabeth said. “I like this way after all.”

Hari snorted rolling her eyes as they ran. It was soon enough that the tunnel started lighting up, they’s slowed down to a walk. The others seemed to be seeing it now too. As they walked right into a steel corridor. It was like the space stations on the tele.

“I hate fluorescents” Hari muttered shading her eyes. It was bright and the fluorescents flickering buggered up her sight.

“This way,” Rachel said, beginning to run. “We’re close!”

“This is so wrong!” Annabeth said sounding like Hermione when something didn’t logically pan out. “The workshop should be in the oldest section of the maze. This can’t—” She faltered, because they’d arrived at a set of metal double doors. Inscribed in the steel, at eye level, was a large blue Delta symbol.

“We’re here,” Rachel announced. “Daedalus’s workshop.”

“Give me a second” Hari stated stringing a bow. “Better they only think there are three of us, not four” she said pulling her cloak out

“Will you betray us?” Percy asked

“Nico is my top priority. If he trusts you, no, you have my word” Hari stated then tossed the cloak over herself.

They nodded then Annabeth opened the doors to the workshop by touching them. Hari was impressed. The workshop would have been Hermione’s wet dream. Apparently, it was Annabeth’s too. The other two girls were awed by what they saw and just as excited. Percy was curious but alert. Hari was wandering around. She caught one snort from Percy as drawers and such were opening by themselves, apparently anyway, as she was going through them. She then looked at the view.

“Nice”

Percy jumped as he hadn’t heard her creep up on him. “Where are we?” Percy asked wondering.

“Colorado Springs,” A voice said behind them. “The Garden of the Gods.”

Hari whipped around already notching an arrow. She tracked the arrow in a kneeling position pointed at the spiral staircase where the older man stood. She waited a bit to see if he would attack. His weapon was drawn but Percy and Annabeth seemed to know him.

They yelled but Hari noticed he was ready for a fight but didn’t seem to be a threat so she slowly relaxed her draw, but damn if she was going to put it away.

Hari said nothing as they talked, yelled, and argued. She was not giving herself away to this man. She could not hate the man. It was someone else’s life. Who was she to judge him by emotion where there was so much around them? Over two thousand years of knowledge in one place. That and Minos was his most hated enemy, making her actually cheer for him as a person capable of avoiding the pain in the arse.

Hari turned from the conversation that her father did not know everything. It was true enough. He was also easily distracted, annoyed, and anti-social on a good day, an outright hermit on bad days if you could get him out of bed on those Bad days. 

Then she heard the Hellhound coming running. She was very familiar with that sound. She tucked herself out of the way in case it caught her scent. The Hellhound ignored her, that was odd but not a bad thing. They talked some more as Daedalus gave the Hellhound attention while he explained what he’d done.

Annabeth had a meltdown about Children of Athena being wise and smart… did she have any idea how hard that was? Probably not.

That’s when something reached all their senses. Something was coming and it wasn’t good. But Nico was with them. She’d recognize her own Family anywhere now that she knew what she was looking for. He was also in her immediate soul sense range, finally.

The Empousa, two giants with Nico, and Minos burst into the workshop. Hari swore she’d make sure Minos would never see the above world ever again. She also swore none of those monsters would leave this room.

Nico looked so morosely it was infuriating it, and he’d lost weight again. “I—I’m sorry, Percy. Minos told me you were in danger. He convinced me to go back into the maze.”

“You were trying to help us?”

“I was tricked,” Nico said. “He tricked all of us.”

Hari was seeing red and she pulled back her bow. Her cloak fell away from her causing a serious commotion. “Let Him Go or I release” she said, her tone was so cold the air around her was frosting… no that wasn’t because of her voice… she was quite literally freezing the area around her. They all laid eyes on the black bow with a nasty looking black arrow that made them all flinch back. They were also shocked she was even there.

“You’ll kill him too” the Empousa stated

She smirked pulling back even farther “You don’t know what I’m holding then nor who he is” she said amused, dark amusement like a cat whose mouse hadn’t quite figured out it was trapped in a corner.

The Empousa’s face fell and now looked pissed off. She went to charge and the Arrow flew. The Empousa dodged right into Annabeth and Percy’s charge.

Mrs. O’Leary charged the Laistrygonian that her arrow didn’t strike causing it to die.

Nico was pushed down and Hari left the fight to the others now that all hell was breaking loose. She baseball slid to Nico and she pulled her knife and slammed it into the chains. They disintegrated into smoke absorbing into her knife.

“Okay, that was cool” Nico stated wide eyed, he was rubbing his wrist

“I’ll teach you later” she said grinning offering her hand to Nico.

Once on his feet Nico darkened as Minos was starting to call the dead to him. “No!” Nico cried.

“You do not control me, young fool,” Minos sneered. “All this time, I have been controlling you! A soul for a soul, yes. But it is not your sister who will return from the dead. It is I, as soon as I slay the Inventor!”

Spirits began to appear around Minos. It was not funny how he was using their skills like this. His spirits were solidifying into Cretan soldiers. Spirits that owed him allegiance in Death.

“He’s all yours. I won’t step in unless you ask” Hari said oh so softly.

“I am the son of Hades,” Nico insisted. “Be gone!”

Minos laughed. “You have no power over me. I am the Lord of Spirits! The Ghost King!”

“No.” Nico drew his sword, well actually hers, but it was his now. “I am.”

He stabbed his black blade into the floor, and it cleaved through the stone like butter.

“Never!” Minos’s form rippled. “I will not—”

The ground rumbled. The windows cracked and shattered to pieces, letting in a blast of fresh air. A fissure opened in the stone floor of the workshop, and Minos and all his spirits were sucked into the void with a horrible wail.

Somewhere along the lines a fire started. Hari was holding up a tired Nico. They needed an exit, quick.

Hari saw Rachel getting the wings off the wall. Hari dragged Nico over there. She didn’t hesitate to pull them on, Nico was too shaky to manage them by himself. She wasn’t even sure he’d be able to manage the wings. Hari filled them with her magic and knew she could do this. The wings changed. She truly had wings of copper coloured feathers coming from her back. She swung her bow over an arm so as not to get tangled in the wings as she waited for the others and then grabbed Nico. He grabbed her around the neck. Then they all jumped out the window.

It was actually fun if she was honest with herself. Nico was clinging to her and she held him tight. Annabeth and Rachel were gliding, Percy was dropping like a rock, flapping stupidly. Then Annabeth yelled at him getting him to stop flapping and to … glide in circles with the other girls. Hari felt the wings as a natural extension of her body.

Percy, they had to yell at to land as they did. Hari landed not unlike an owl after watching Hedwig so long… actually that would explain the innate knowledge of flying. Nico was getting better as he was still weak but not as bad. She needed to get some food into him if nothing else. The others ripped their wing off and Hari tugged hers…

“Is something wrong?” Percy asked

“They’re attached” Hari stated blushing.

“They’re real too” Rachel said touching them, Hari jolted as she’d felt that.

“Okay, that wasn’t my greatest Idea” she muttered then tossed her cloak over them. Then wrapped them in the mist, though she’d never admit to smacking herself in the face with a wing as she did. Rachel seemed to be pouting. Hari unstrung her bow and tucked it away… with her wings. The other wings had been close to failing as the self-adhesive strips were coming apart from the copper feathers. It should be noted, hers were actually feathers, theirs were still metal… they were shoved in the rubbish bins outside of the cafeteria. 

“The workshop moved,” Annabeth said, she assumed they were talking about the mass of fire lacking from the hill. “There’s no telling where.”

“So, what do we do now?” Percy asked. “How do we get back in the maze?”

Annabeth gazed at the distance. “Maybe we can’t. If Daedalus died…he said his life force was tied into the Labyrinth. The whole thing might’ve been destroyed. Maybe that will stop Luke’s invasion.”

“No,” Nico said. “He isn’t dead.”

“How can you be sure?” Percy asked.

“I know when people die. It’s this feeling I get, like a buzzing in my ears.”

“What about Tyson and Grover, then?”

Nico shook his head. “That’s harder. They’re not humans or half-bloods. They don’t have mortal souls.” Then he looked at Hari

“I have to have met them before I can track them” she stated shrugging.

They started arguing about what to do next but Rachel took care of it. She was calling a car and they would start from there.

“Okay, I’m going to buy a prism in the gift shop, try to make a rainbow, and send an Iris-message to camp.” Annabeth said uneasy

“I’ll go with you,” Nico said. “I’m hungry.”

“We can get you sugar.” Hari said pulling something out of her bag and they watched his face light up and devour it. They weren’t even sure what it was. She wasn’t about to tell them it was a pepperoni stick.

They went inside and Hari activated the mist as there was a bored cashier in the building.

She watched Annabeth, out of the corner of her eye, call a man called Chiron at Camp Half-Blood. Hari bought chocolate and other sugar crap for Nico and bags of nuts to snack on as they moved.

They piled into the car when it arrived. Hari was in the front, mostly due to her new attachments then anything else.

Nico passed her up a cola. She’d have preferred tea but hey Caffeine. The others were pigging out on the snacks in the back. Nico was actually taking a short nap. Good.

Nico jolted awake when Rachel yelled. They pulled off the highway into a Mining Museum. Rachel almost panicked when the driver was about to offer to call her parents.

They were all stunned that Rachel had seen the entrance from the highway as they could only see it on the lock to the mine entrance. They were once again in the labyrinth.

Rachel lead while Annabeth was talking to her. Percy and Nico were walking beside each other. Hari was walking behind them seeing how Nico was really shy and temperamental around Percy… did Nico like Percy in that way and didn’t wanting the older boy to know? She’d ask later.

They all jolted as a loud crashing filled the air. Hari blushed as the flashlights blinded her she lifted a hand to block the lights from blinding her more “Sorry” she squeaked, the accent sounding very entertaining.

“What happened?” Annabeth asked

“The wings fell apart” Rachel and Hari said.

Nico and Percy were snickering at her.

She shifted her gear again. Leaving the feathers where they were.

They caught a trail that none of them wanted to go down. Percy went down the path. Percy wore Annabeth’s invisible cap and Hari threw her cloak around her after restringing her bow. “I’ll try to keep the stupidity to a minimum. Protect Nico or dying will be the least of your concerns” Hari stated vanishing from sight.

Hari followed Percy through her soul sense. She was almost right beside him as they stopped hearing growling talking. She learned it was from a monster of a weird proportions. Dogs of different breeds mixed with seals of similar colour to their dog fur. They were really awkward to say the least but hey seadogs.

They found the eyepatch boy. Ethan if she remembered correctly. Hari did not like that blade… it was wrong. The six-foot scythe blade was a mix of two metals steel and bronze. They mentioned sanctifying it with blood. Shit, they were using blood rituals now too!? 

They crept into the palace, she liked Home better. It was less creepy. They stopped at a gold sarcophagus and Percy started pushing the top off, Hari helped then got out of the way, backing up as she recognized the face from a dream she had during school. He was dressed as if dead… but he wasn’t, not yet. There was something wrong. This was wrong.

The Telekhines came in with the other boy. Hari and Percy both scrambled away from the Coffin. Hari covered her mouth as she saw what they were doing to keep the noise she made from escaping. This wasn’t a resurrecting it was a fucking possession.

Percy stupidly revealed himself. Ethen revealed himself as a child of Nemesis. Actually, that made sense sadly enough. Then Kronos rose. Gold eyes replaced blue. Percy attacked and Hari saw the blade deflect as if Luke was wearing armour… The Styx. She’d watched him bath in the River Styx. Nothing would pierce it. She had to try anyway. Percy was knocked away and Hari grabbed him pulling him to his feet, dragging him away from the fight.

They felt like they were running through Jell-O so Hari let go and with great patience notched an arrow and released it. Hari swore as the arrow that struck a Telekhine. The time spell was broken however. She grabbed Percy’s wrist and pulled him into running. She gave Percy enough time to get away. The Telekhine vanished in black smoke. Then Rachel threw a hairbrush at Luke distracting him as the girls brought her little brother into the fight.

“Nice shot” Percy said as Hari’s hood flew back. Though if he was talking to Rachel or her, she didn’t know, didn’t care actually. It was probably Rachel though; she’d at least hit Luke.

“I was aiming for Blondie” Hari hissed spinning as she notched another arrow and let it fly. Her eyes flashed black as she released the next arrow. It struck the other Telekhine. She didn’t have the chance to hit the demi-god. Which might have been a good thing.

“AFTER THEM!”

“No!” Nico yelled. He clapped his hands together, and a jagged spire of rock the size of an eighteen-wheeler erupted from the ground right in front of the fortress. It was the same black rock that was the border of the Underworld. The tremor it caused was so powerful the front columns of the building came crashing down. They darted into the Labyrinth, because that would get them away from the tremors until they stopped.

They kept running until they were exhausted. They were all gasping for breath. They finally stopped and collapsed. Annabeth was in tears. Rachel was too out of shape for this. Nico dropped panting beside Percy, their swords side by side.

They were talking as Hari unstrung her bow, she’d fired it twice frowning. Her arrows returned to her quiver. The problem was that… well her arrows always hit to kill. That it wasn’t always what she was aiming for was a different matter all together. That she’d been aiming at the one they called Luke and missed twice… she wasn’t a great shot but she wasn’t that bad. She then handed out food to everyone as they had to share a water bottle.

“How are you always so prepared?” Rachel asked taking the snack she was handed.

“I get into some pretty weird situations.” Hari said with a twitchy smile. They ate quickly, outside of Annabeth who was crying too much into her knees.

“We have to keep moving,” Nico said. “He’ll send monsters after us.”

Nobody was in any shape to run, but Nico was right. Percy hauled himself up then went to their Ginger and helped her to her feet. Hari who’d never sat down offered her hand to Nico. He smiled that cute embarrassed one and let her help him up.

They turned to see Percy kneeling beside Annabeth. He said a few things to her and managed to get her to her feet.

The flashlights were starting to give her a headache so Hari held out her hand. Green fire filled the air. They all turned to her shocked.

Rachel looked the most stunned “How can you do that?”

“It’s Hell fire essentially. Dad calls it Stygian fire. A step below his black hell fire. We forge with it”

“Didn’t know that” Nico muttered

“You haven’t been allowed in the forges yet. You ran away before you could go” Hari stated

Nico blushed. 

They got to walking again. Which was when they spotted the knitted highly colourful hat on the ground. Percy was the first to react as his flashlight determined the colour.

“I really should stop unstringing this if we keep finding more problems.” Hari stated looking at the muddy prints around them.

Nico sighed at her for the comment, the others ignored her. They others were all for hunting down the owner of the prints. Hari didn’t string her bow as they chased after Percy and Annabeth. They helped Rachel follow them. Nico and Hari were at the back as they walked… more like slipping and sliding down the odd slopes. Hari was actually reminded of the tunnel to the Chamber of Secrets… but this was more of a natural cave system. 

They finally opened up from the maze to find a cyclops holding another boy. “Tyson!”

Hari jolted as this was apparently not a danger. They ran over to check on the other to find him a satyr. She only knew that as Percy introduced Rachel and Hari to them, she smiled and snorted at the cyclops called her and Rachel pretty before they moved along. She was looking at the way to a very powerful but dying being. She put a hand on Nico’s shoulder. The others were helping Grover up and carrying him between them. They reached a river they couldn’t possible cross normally. Hari frowned then just decided to say screw it. She flicked out her wand and used magic. Rachel had already been exposed.

“Are you a daughter of Hecate?” Grover asked fuzzy.

She smiled “No” she stated as the bridge formed. Thank Hades for three am ghostly magic lessons. Hermione would murder her if she ever found out what Hari knew and didn’t tell her about.

“I think we’re in Carlsbad Caverns,” Annabeth said as they walked across the bridge easily. It was very sturdy.

“32°10′31″N 104°26′38″W, 2000 feet down.” Hari stated looking around “New Mexico, I think it’s called?”

They looked at her. She looked sheepish in response “Underground. Underworld it’s not that much of a stretch” She stated “Stop looking at me like that!” she was blushing a little too bright from the attention.

“I didn’t even get that” Nico muttered

“I got more Underworld skills; you seem to have more death skills though” Hari said still blushing

“Moving on” Annabeth stated “That would explain last winter.”

“Last winter?” Nico and Hari asked with Rachel.

“I’ll tell you another time” Percy stated smiling sadly.

They nodded. Nico buried his neck and chin into his coat. They kept walking as they felt Life magic filling the air. Hari and Nico tensed as this was not their realm or territory. They fell silent. They could smell plants and trees like those of a summer’s day. It smelled like Persephone if Hari was honest with herself.

They walked into a place that was a jeweller’s wet dream with the raw gems in seams in the wall and crystalized off the walls. It was also covered in greenery. Walking in Hari could name everything in the room from the plants to the animals due to spending too much time with Neville and Hermione.

Hari could not help but admit it was beautiful. But it was fading. Rapidly. Hari and Nico knelt. It was their Respect for the dying. The others followed this as Grover was talking with Pan. Percy was the last to kneel not knowing he was supposed to.

“Your companions Nico and Aidonea understand this.”

They all blinked as Hari raised her head Nico nodded slowly

“He’s Dying.” Nico said his voice faltered

“He should have died a long time ago. This is merely a memory of life kept alive by belief and Memory” Hari stated 

Then Pan kept talking to Grove convincing him to let the ancient satyr pass on.

He addressed the ones meant for the surface world, Children of Life. He said nothing to Nico and Hari. Grover released Pan to finally die. They had a blue smoke fill their lungs. Hari and Nico were holding hands. They got the knowledge of Death to Life and Life to Death. With a hint of always finding a safe place if they needed it.

They settled and the room died. Hari felt a tear slip down her cheek. She felt the God of the Wild pass, not to the Underworld, but into the Wild itself. He could be revived in a new form if the Wild grew once again. Hari smiled at Nico to say nothing, he’s sensed it too from the little smile on his face. They got ready to leave the cave with nothing but the dimmed jewels and an empty bed.

They headed to the Labyrinth again.

“Does the food ever end with you!?” Annabeth snapped as she was getting a bag of nuts shoved into her hands.

“Eventually” Hari muttered

“So, Aidonea?” Percy asked

“My birthname” Hari said as she handed out food. “Don’t use it often. I don’t need people knowing it just yet… actually Dad is the only one that uses it.”

“So, you’re a child of Hades?” Grover asked 

Hari nodded offering him a chocolate bar. He ate it wrapper and all. “His first-born” Hari answered offering food to them all in varying health standards. She handed Nico two pieces of pepperoni…

“What are those?” Tyson asked curious.

“You can’t eat them big guy, it’s Underworld food” Hari explained

“What is it though?” Grover asked

Rachel had just popped a hand full of nuts from her pocket into her mouth, asked in more of a mumble.

“It’s a type of Underworld deer I think” Hari stated “I’ve managed to hunt one and it’s better than some of the things I’ve eaten”

Time in the Labyrinth was different and they finally made it to New York as they landed in a hotel basement. They were all exhausted as they climbed out onto street level. Hari and Nico both hissed in pain as they were blinded. They walked into an alley. Percy whistled. Five pegasi landed by them.

They had a short argument about going to a camp that Annabeth convinced Nico to got to. Hari was just following her little brother at this point. Then Percy noticed his mistake. The winged horses were already skirting Hari and Nico. That wasn’t good.

“It’s because you smell like dead things” Percy explained embarrassed

Hari blinked then smiled. “If you can wait four minutes, I think I can fix the problem”

They nodded

Hari touched the ground and said something in ancient Greek. Nico looked at her wide eyed as she finished. She was summoning their horses. “We can do that?” Nico asked

“Yes, but only ours.” Hari stated dusting her hands off on dirty pants.

“But they don’t have wings” Nico argued

Hari smirked “Those in the royal stables do, they just don’t show them often”

As they were waiting the others saddled the Pegasi. Percy was saying good-bye to Rachel. She vanished by the time the two black horses came out of the shadows. Percy stared awed as the horses snorted

“Yes, we’re flying” Percy said to the horses

The shadow horses whickered and then their wings came out of shadows. They had black feathers that had hints of flame to them. They also came with saddles having prepared for riders.

“They say they are ready. And that it took you long enough to call” Percy said frowning “They are calling you Prince and Princess” he was weirded out by that part.

Hari smiled and boosted Nico up. He was too tired and short yet to get up on his own. She jumped up onto her Mare, used to this sort of thing with a broom. They took off and Hari was exhilarated. Nico was clutching his reins. The shadow horses had to slow their pace to keep with the Pegasi, as the two Hades kids and their mounts didn’t know exactly where they were going.

They finally arrived. Hari looked around confused. They were approached by a pot belly satyr and the centaur whose hair did not match his coat. It was a first for her.

Percy and Annabeth told them everything then Grover added in with Pan. This set off the fat Satyr but seemed expected to the centaur. The blond archers that surround them when they landed were eyeing her.

They watched the centaur start galloping towards the forest. Hari and Nico rode their horses after. The others had to run.

“Who’s the Girl?” someone asked as they spotted them.

Hari didn’t say anything looking around. Everyone was in battle armour, there were traps around a pile of rocks, a Labyrinth entrance she suspected. There was a pair of catapults that looked expertly made. There was a set of similar looking kids and teens drilling in preparations with a girl shouting orders. There were archers all through out the forest.

Hari rubbed her eyes and blinked. Yeah those were dryads in armour with Nymphs right along side them armed with bows. More satyrs were walking around with clubs and shields. She saw a single large tent with people streaming in and out with the flag of Athena over it. That’s when she noticed the blond twins handing out water and juice boxes to everyone.

“It’s not enough” Hari muttered then swung down. She touched the ground. She frowned. It wasn’t naturally grave dirt. She’d have to summon from the Underworld. She looked at Nico. He was still mounted looking awkward and ready to bolt.

“Child” Hari looked up at the centaur who spoke to her. “I am Chiron head trainer at this camp. Who are you?”

“Just call me Hari.” She said then looked ahead of her frowning, she dusted herself off. There were not enough people. They needed a proper shield wall.

“How did you come to join the quest?” the mismatched centaur asked

“I was looking for Nico” She said trying to think of how to do this. She sighed then realizing her and Nico were the only ones not in armour as even Percy was given a set to wear. “Nico, Come here a moment”

Nico rode over leaning down to her.

“I need you off the horse” Hari stated

He sighed and slipped off, her bracing him as he jumped the last foot. “What?” he grumbled

“We need a shield wall” she said grinning

Nico caught her drift and nodded

“Also, you need armour.” She touched his shoulder and let the shadows move his armour to him. He was a little shocked to have a black breastplate that fit like a glove and arm guards. She was covered in the same smoke showing off her armour as it cleared away.

There was a sharp intake of breath.

“Okay, this is cool” Nico said grinning

“You’re going to have to sit through a fitting you know” Hari stated easily “Now help me with the Spartan shield wall already”

Nico grinned and they knelt on the grass together. The fissure that formed spilled out skeletons that took on physical forms that then took on flesh and armour. They walked in front of the Ares kids as she was informed and locked shields.

“You’re also a child of Hades” The centaur said shocked.

Hari stood up and staggered a little from the head rush. “Yeah” she muttered holding her head woozy.

“How old are you?” Chiron asked she however didn’t answer as the ground trembled. Hari and Nico shared a look.

“Lock Shields” came the call from the girl out front.

Hari whipped out her bow and strung it, she’d been getting a little too much practice lately. She was already moving to a clear spot prepping to fire. She jammed a few arrows into the ground in front of her and the grass died around them.

They had seconds to prepare as the Titans army exploded for the Labyrinth. 

One of the Laistrygonian giants swung at the shield wall. The Ares cabin was spared only because they were farther back then the Spartans.

“Fire” Came the yell of the Catapult leader.

The archers loosed a volley at the same time. Some hit their mark vaporizing the giants, others just made them look like pincushions. When these ones were almost pushed back dracaenae spilled forth. Hari was releasing arrows and like Chiron beside her she was taking something out with every shot. Her arrows however were returning to her, his were being run to him by a girl who was more interested in her looks then the fight.

The siblings with grey eyes charged into the fight as the dracaenae were triggering the traps around the entrance. The dead warriors were being destroyed as easily as they were destroying the monsters. A Hellhound, how they managed that she wanted to know, Now. But Percy was running towards it.

She heard him yell for Nico and saw the dracaenae trying to leave the fight. Nico raised more dead, a mix of whatever would answer. She moved towards him killing as she went. She froze as she was suddenly out of arrows. Shit! They weren’t returning as fast as she was firing them.

She drew her knives and guarded Nico as he was now on his knees. She only focused on him and protecting him. Hari knew she could not keep this up. The green fire that was not the same shade as the Greek fire went flying at and spread through the giants as they fell back causing the new monsters to burn. She hissed as the new creature, something she’d never seen before, broke out of the chaos. The she-demon caused a panic on the demi-god side and it got messy. Hari moved and noticed her arrows were back. She threw her knife at a Hellhound that got too close. It was absorbed. She could not figure out what was wrong with them.

Then something was going on as Percy and Annabeth were fighting the freaky looking she-demon. That’s when she noticed Mrs. O’ Leary coming into the fight, the Labyrinth creator right behind her with a… was that a hundred hands?

She couldn’t watch what was happening as she took to sticking arrows into new monsters. When that ran out or they got to close her knife flashed out taking them out. Nico managed a few strikes of his own and more dead. But he was fading rapidly. 

Something happened and suddenly all the monsters started a retreat in panic at a brass trumpet blast.

Hari whipped around to see Nico on the ground, He’d used too much power and it was trying to escape his control. To lose that in an area with living people was a dangerous thing, especially for them as their power consumed them. It made their bodies Die.

Hari grabbed the Canteen from her bag and rolled Nico onto his back then dribbled some Nectar into his mouth. He blinked at her, as he was coming back too. She smiled making him drink more.

Percy ran over sliding a little as he looked seriously worried. Hari smiled, so this was the boy her brother had a crush on. No wonder he was terrified of his own feelings. Nico still had serious fuzzy brain when they started asking him questions. Annabeth found them soon after.

Then Daedalus came up to them. He explained how he felt guilty and then there was the comment that the army would try to use the Labyrinth again. Daedalus gifted Annabeth a sleek silver laptop with the Delta symbol on it. The blonde stated gushing and stuttering as if this was a priceless treasure, that was if it had all the inventor’s notes on it.

Hari was starting to like this man for all the ill he’d done. His heart was finally in the right direction again.

“Small compensation for the way I have acted,” Daedalus said. “You were right, Annabeth, about children of Athena. We should be wise, and I was not. Someday you will be a greater architect than I ever was. Take my ideas and improve them. It is the least I can do before I pass on.”

“Whoa,” Percy said in a panic “Pass on? But you can’t just kill yourself. That’s wrong.”

Daedalus shook his head. “Not as wrong as hiding from my crimes for two thousand years. Genius does not excuse evil, Percy. My time has come. I must face my punishment.”

“You won’t get a fair trial,” Annabeth said. “The spirit of Minos sits in Judgment—”

“I will take what comes,” he said. “And trust in the Justice of the Underworld, such as it is. That is all we can do, isn’t it?”

He looked straight at Nico, and Nico’s face darkened.

“Yes,” he said.

“I think I can help with the Minos issue”

They all turned to Hari holding out a plain metal ring, it was black however. She passed it over Nico’s shoulder as he was leaning on her “If you give this to the gate guard you will bypass the Judgment Pavilion. You won’t escape Judgment, but you will bypass Minos”

“Who does this take me too?” Daedalus asked

“Hades himself.” Hari stated “He’s fair, remind him you’re an architect.” She said smirking. “It’ll be boring as all hell but better than whatever nasty thing Minos will come up with and Hades always enjoys pissing off the uppity ones” 

They all looked at her shocked. “And the ring?”

She shrugged “It’ll be returned next time I head down. It’ll probably be waiting on my bedside table for me”

They blinked at her. She just smiled. “Will you take my soul for ransom, then?” Daedalus asked Nico. “You could use it to reclaim your sister.” He hadn’t taken the ring yet.

“No,” Nico said. “I will help you release your spirit. But Bianca has passed. She must stay where she is.”

Daedalus nodded. “Well done, Son of Hades. You are becoming wise.” He took the ring with a bow to them both. Then he turned toward Percy. “One last favor, Percy Jackson. I cannot leave Mrs. O’Leary alone. And she has no desire to return to the Underworld. Will you care for her?”

“Yeah. Of course, I will.” Percy said

“Then I am ready to see my son…and Perdix,” he said. “I must tell them how sorry I am.”

Annabeth had tears in her eyes.

Daedalus turned toward Nico and Hari

“Nico you want to do the honour?” Hari asked

Nico nodded drawing his sword. “Your time is long since come. Be released and rest.” He said calling on his power over the dead.

A smile of relief spread across Daedalus’s face as he finally was able to pass on into the afterlife. He froze like a statue. His skin turned transparent, revealing the bronze gears and machinery whirring inside his body. Then the statue turned to gray ash and disintegrated.

The Labyrinth collapsed with his death sending a tremor through the world. Hari blinked feeling a few deaths caused by it. Hari and Nico supressed smirks as the monsters in the Labyrinth died. They were surer of the demi-gods who’d lost their lives, securing the thoughts that the monster forces had died too.

“Come on,” Percy told them. “We have work to do.”

“Nico, I need to talk to the mismatched Centaur” Hari said

“Mismatched?” Annabeth and Percy asked confused

“Yeah, every centaur I’ve ever met had hair matching their horse colour.” Hari said walking away from them.

Chiron was looking at her wearily as she was more focused on the broken leg then him as a whole. She placed her bow down by his legs and was looking closely at the broken one.

“We do not shoot Centaurs with broken legs” he stated twitchy

Hari smiled at him “I could amputate if you want”

The look of panic on his face was actually funny. He let out a horse sound as he tried to get away from her as she pulled out her wand. “Okay, okay, it was a joke, stop panicking so I can heal this!”

He looked at her confused seeing the wand in her hand. He was frowning deeply before he yelped at the feeling of his bones resettling. He moved the leg to find it wasn’t broken anymore.

“It’s going to be tender and delicate for a while but it’ll be fine in about a week or so” Hari stated “I know from experience”

“You’re a witch?” he asked stunned

Hari smiled “Yep” she chirped moving along. She helped the Apollo children treat the wounded more then the battle tending they had been doing. Hari healed what she could. She knew she used more magic then she should have. She knew it but didn’t really care.

One of the Ares kids looked at her bow. “What is that made of?” he asked getting a closer look at the bow. It was mostly black wood with black metal encasing the handle and forming a very startling hand guard but they realized it wasn’t a hand guard at all but the actual bow handle. The arrows were much the same with black feathers and black iron tips. They would appear in the quiver in little wisps of smoke. Though they could find the broken ones on the field because they were killing the grass.

“Stygian iron and black poplar.” Hari replied

“What is Stygian iron?” the lead girl asked confused

“Underworld metal” Hari stated bluntly as she finished treating the kid and figured she really didn’t need it strung anymore. She set her bow against her foot and used her weight to tense the bow to pull the string off. She then flipped it around almost like an expert and unhooked the other side. She spun the string around her hand and tucked in into a pouch on her quiver. Setting her bow on her back in it’s carrying harness. She then spent some time gathering the broken arrows so they could be melted down or re-forged.

Hari and Nico stood apart from the crowd as they mourned their dead. The mood of the camp shifted at this point. The battle was over and they had to move on. Hari slipped away with Nico and set up her tent in the area in the middle of the cabins horseshoe. Hari smiled sadly as Hestia in her little girl form was sitting tending the hearth.

“Auntie” she said walking up to the girl. The goddess gave a sad smile. 

Nico hopped up on the hearth’s rim and yawned as Hari decided exactly where her tent was going. She opened her bag and flicked her wand; it wasn’t hard to set up the tent.

Nico’s eyes went wide “Can you teach me that?” he asked

“We’ll see if I can.” She replied then she stuck her head in. “Ooohhh. This is better than I had hoped”

Nico crawled in and “What in Hades!?” escaped loudly

Hari laughed

Hestia got curious and squished in the door. “Ooooo”

Hari stepped fully in, as did the other two looking awed around. It looked like a gothic layer with major Greek influences. Everything was black with bronze accents. There were also red, green and blue hints as the gem colours filled the tent.

“This isn’t a tent, it’s a house!” Nico cried out awed

“It’s a magic tent” Hari said grinning. She opened a few doors, “Bathroom, oh one bedroom, two bedrooms, three bedrooms, and fourth bedroom.”

Nico ran and flopped on the cushions and beanbag chairs that were in the corner for sitting. There were real couches but the floor was comfy looking too. That and they were all tired.

“Nico pick a room so we can crash. Morning’s going to come early” Hari said yawning.

Hestia was ogling the huge kitchen done in blacks and deep wood colours with Bronze wherever metal was required and obsidian for stone. It was huge and beautiful. There was a dining room done in the same colours and looking very comfortable even if it looked formal. Library shelves covered the walls from the dining room around the living room and stopped at the hallway to the bedrooms and the kitchen. There was a distinct lack of books though. She stuck her head in the private bathroom and knew it looked identical if smaller then the ones in Hades’ palace.

“This is impressive” Hestia said

“You can borrow the kitchen whenever you want” Hari said smiling

The delightful childish glee that came from her was adorable.

Nico claimed a room. Hari was across the hall from him. They both dropped their gear. Then proceeded to pass out. Nico woke from a nightmare and noticed Hestia baking in the kitchen as he crawled into Hari’s bed with her. He passed out again in her arms.

The next morning in the kitchen Hari picked Nico up and moved him as he was between her and tea. Nico was staring longingly at the coffee pot waiting for the pot to be done brewing. They both needed the caffeine to function before the next round of injury treating was done.

“Is everything alright in here?”

Hari stuck her head outside the tent holding a cup of tea to find Chiron there. “Can we talk?” he asked

Hari nodded then covered a Yawn, “Come on in.” she said opening the flap more.

Chiron let out a rather amusing curse in ancient Greek. Hari smirked grabbing a Hestia cookie as she sat at the table with Nico pouring a little milk in his coffee with half the sugar jar.

“By the gods”

“Nope, by wizards” Hari commented

“As a daughter of the Big Three you should not have survived this long in the outside world. To know you have seen centaurs, maybe one of my sons or grandsons in Britain of all places.”

“Well, I think it was because of where I was and how I was treated as a child.” Hari replied

“Grover and a few of the other satyrs think it’s your scent. Apparently don’t smell like a demi-god, even Nico smells more like one then you do according to them, and I must agree. You both smell like the Underworld that I think has to do with your father but, you Miss, smell like that with no hint of other scents unless you count ozone, and that make even less sense, unless you are a witch and you leak energy”

“That’s because I’m not technically half-human in the whole form.” Hari said “I’m half earth-bound immortal by way of a made human. I’m still mortal currently though. Or so me and my father suspect.”

“Your mother?” Chiron asked

“I’ve never met her; Father gets twitchy whenever the topic is brought up but I think that’s because of our step-mother.”

“Who is it?”

“Pandora, the lady in the myth with the jar” Hari stated

Chiron choked on the tea he’d been drinking. “You bypass so many laws” the centaur muttered as if in pain.

Hari smiled “Yes, Dad thinks it’s great entertainment”

“Protective as all hell too” Nico muttered

“Well, I only found out I was a demi-god and not a witch last summer.”

Chiron blinked at her “Last summer?”

Hari nodded “My …” she frowned “Adoptive cousin... well whatever he was, he tried to kill me last summer” She shrugged not really bothered anymore “and Father brought me to the Underworld before I succumbed to my injuries.”

“And your ‘cousin’?”

“Dead. With his parents. Dad had fun with that apparently” Hari said into her tea.

Nico snorted in his coffee “Oh yeah, Persephone caught him laughing to himself about it when I was there, I think their was a recording of it she was watching.”

“Here, spare shirts at least” Chiron said handing over two orange shirts.

Nico groaned looking at the bright orange fabric. It was the same one as the others had been wearing under their armour. Hari opened up the orange tee shirt with black letters and a Pegasus on it….

“I’m not wearing this thing again…” Nico said given the dirtiest look to the shirt on the table.

Hari usually didn’t care what her clothes looked like but… pasty ass skin and bright orange did not go together. Hari let her magic bled into the cloth turning the orange to black and the black letters to white. She blinked holding it out in front of her. Nico had to put his coffee down he was laughing so hard at the image on the front.

“That’s really not appropriate but bloody brilliant” Hari said amused

Under the white words, instead of a Pegasus there was now a comic version of a pile of corpses with one wearing the orange shirt reading Hero on the front with a sword through their chest. She flipped it over to show a skeleton covered in green flames with Winner written in white above it.

“Now that’s a camp shirt” Nico said amused

Chiron was understandably not impressed even if he was smiling a little. She did the same to Nico’s though his was only a flaming skull on the back and no words. 

They got food into them, feeding Chiron something too before they bathed and dressed. Hari braided and coiled her hair to get it out of the way. It was to her butt now and all curls, she had to control it somehow, she was just lucky she had the huge ringlets rather then little poof curls like Hermione.

On the field Hari handed out her collection of healing potions that the Apollo kids seemed to understand the best. Hari helped with the healing. She’d gotten pretty damn good at it after spending a week with an old healer. That she took pointers from Apollo helped even more.

The fact that a couple of Campers gave her a dirty look after seeing the shirts was funny. The Ares kids were laughing saying it was Percy on the shirt. Percy didn’t find the joke very funny. But it kept the campers distracted from their injuries. William Solace was unusually helpful when it came to healing, he was humming a lot. But she didn’t mind, even causing him to pick up a few tunes that Apollo taught her. She took to setting bones as the Apollo children just couldn’t seem to handle it.

Nico was usually at her side learning her tricks with the shadows. It tired him out a lot when he tried it. Hari wouldn’t admit to being exhausted too. Nico took a nap with Hari on the couch in the tent’s living room. The smell of baked cookies filled the tent. Apparently, that was during the Grover trial, they slept through the whole thing.

They ate in the tent as it was too much effort to eat with the others even if it was offered. They did however send an offering to Hestia through the fire.

At dinner they went to the pavilion. It was Hari’s first time there. She looked at the floor, there was a huge crack in it that was rather odd. Nico was blushing beside her. “Please don’t ask” He muttered

She snickered and ruffled his hair.

“Will you come and eat with us?” Chiron asked his back leg that had been broken yesterday was wrapped for support.

“I think we will pass. I believe our father has other plans. He was chewing me out for not contacting him during our nap” Hari said smiling amused

“Well Daughter of Hades, you and Nico are always welcome here”

She smiled “No we aren’t, not yet anyway.” She stated turning.

Nico was already heading for the woods. Hari noticed Percy following Nico and her into to the woods as the others went to the amphitheater. 

Hari left Nico to summon Bianca to say good-bye. Hari called their horses and waited for him in the shadows. Nico said good-bye to Bianca one more time before he stopped summoning her. Hari watched as Bianca gave Nico a silver skull ring, something she’d been given in turn. She touched his face as Percy came in. Nico was trying not to cry as he brushed Percy off.

Percy gave Nico a small lead Hades figurine. It was something special, she’d bug him about it when he wasn’t so raw. She waited for him to finish talking as she held the reins of their horses. They were heading home. For a time anyway. They had training to do before their father would let them out of his sight again.

Nico was done talking as she waited. She blended the shadows around them as he approached, she didn’t bother getting him on his horse as she got them on her horse. Nico was sobbing as they rode to the Underworld, soaking her shirt and she didn’t care. She held him and even managed to get him to her room where he finally stopped crying and passed out.

While Nico was too depressed to get out of bed Hari had lessons with their father. She was a more all-a-rounder so he was seeing what she was capable of. Today it was testing wealth skills. Hades wanted to see if she could animate and form ‘living’ things from the stones and metals of the earth.

Hari called forth a chunk of raw Stygian iron. Hari was using her magic and her geotechnics abilities to form a cat. Hades frowned and raised an eyebrow.

“It’s for Nico, now stop giving me that look” she said blushing. She was putting the final touches on the black sleek cat when Hades held out matching pairs of gems, he’d been matching the ones she’d called forth earlier. She picked out a set of amethysts. She set them into its face for eyes. She then cut her finger, she needed blood to activate the metal. It worked and she grinned, Nico was going to have a companion. The cat took a bit to come alive. It blinked and everything. The cat purred and rubbed against her hand.

She was happy, then she was dismissed making her and the cat that was suddenly chasing her run towards the royal wing. She found Nico in the dining room picking at his food as usual. She held up the cat and then held it out for Nico.

He looked at it confused “So you have your own attack kitty” Hari said grinning

Nico blinked at the cat then took it so gently from her and he giggled when it butted its head into the underside of his chin. His mood improved a great deal after that. The cat was quickly deemed a girl and was named Gloria by Nico thinking of a song he always had stuck in his head.

However, a new argument filled the palace. Hari was going back to school in September and Hades wasn’t enjoying the thought. The fact that she’d just learned a part of the second prophecy hanging over their heads didn’t help the temper flares.

Nico made the comment that he could go in Hari’s place. She almost looked to be considering it. “I’m not leaving you alone with those hyenas.” She stated

Her fifteenth birthday passed and it wasn’t really celebrated. It was more a cause of fury. Apparently, Poseidon and Zeus, and any other Olympian that wanted to tell Hades off or in the case of his brothers complain about crap Hades could careless about. All had to contact him that day.

At the beginning of August Hari found herself sitting on the fire escape rail as Nico wanted to talk with Percy, so she’d shadow traveled with him.

“Nice Moonlace” Hari said looking at the plant he’d just finished planting at the same time Nico said “Nice plant.”

Hari waved as Percy spotted them jumping back in surprise.

“Sorry,” Nico said. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“That’s—that’s okay. I mean…what are you doing here?” Percy asked

Percy looked Nico over and seemed to feel relief. The fact Nico had grown an inch since they last spoke said something.

“I’ve done some exploring,” Nico said. “Thought you’d like to know; Daedalus got his punishment.”

“You saw him?” Percy asked surprised

Nico nodded. “Minos wanted to boil him in cheese fondue for an eternity and said so after he found out about Daedalus bypassing him,” Nico was grinning

“Our Father had other ideas. Daedalus will be building overpasses and exit ramps in Asphodel for all time. It’ll help ease the traffic congestion.” Hari said grinning

Nico looked back at her with a smile, she was still perched on the railing “Truthfully, I think the old guy is pretty happy with that. He’s still building. Still creating. And he gets to see his son and Perdix on the weekends.” Nico said

“That’s good.”

They talked a little, they also ended up eating blue birthday cake and ice cream. It was weird but cool.

She was grinning as she sat on the couch. “Why blue?” she asked

“It’s a running joke with my mom and I” Percy said grinning

“Understandable” she muttered taking another bite of the really good cake. “Damn this is better than Molly’s” she muttered grinning, not that she’d admit it to the Weasley Matriarch.

“Molly?” Nico and Percy asked

She swallowed her bite. “Mum of the family that practically adopted me from school. She’s overbearing but an amazing cook. Your mum’s just a little better though”

Nico looked intrigued “You might meet her, if the school accepts you into it” Hari said ruffling Nico’s longer hair.

She’d find out in a week anyway when she got the reply from Sirius on if she was even allowed to got to Hogwarts next year, not that she doubted it. She’d already planned to stay with him as she’d been informed, he was living in London right now. She couldn’t help but feel excited at the thought of Sirius following through with that promise for third year.


	3. Chapter 3

Hari was tapping her toes into the floor as she waited for the receptionist to find her request… again. Hari had sent it in before she left Hogwarts in June… apparently it had been filed properly and the acceptance letter to her request had been sent in August, it was more an acceptance because the files she wanted to look at couldn’t be copied. Legal purposes and all that crap. The files couldn’t even be pulled from the room they were kept in. The goblins and the house-elves had warded it to the tee at the wizards’ request, apparently, they had been destroyed once before and that screwed them up for centuries. They made sure it didn’t happen again. 

“FOUND IT!” was followed by a loud thump as the receptionist smacked her head on the underside of her desk.

“You alright?” Hari asked looking over the counter concerned.

The witch gave her a silly grin rubbing her head, her hat had been lost in her fury of movement hunting down her copy of the request. It was so Hari couldn’t have forged the letter in her hand.

“So, do I check out?” Hari asked going back to tapping.

“Yes, the numbers and the names match. You’re in order. Straight through the door on the left.” The witch said smiling

Hari waved and went to said door. After about 6 hours of looking through files, her eyes were dancing across the page. She had a huge list of notes and she was sighing as she was tired and hungry. She packed up her things and put the files back. She walked out of the file room. She knocked on the counter startling the new receptionist, a wizard this time.

“How can I help you?” he asked

“The files, how often are they updated”

“They are updated magically and by the goblins on a regular basis.” The wizard said confused “did you not find something?”

“I was looking for case and trial files from the end of the You-know-who scares and his followers’ trials 14 years ago. I found arrest files but I found…” She trailed off looking at her list “…43, that don’t have trial transcripts”

The receptionist looked at her horrified

“What do you mean my files are missing 43 trial transcripts?”

Hari whipped around, her hand flying to the knife at her lower back, hidden by her jacket, to see a broad, square-jawed witch with very short gray hair standing there. She looked very forbidding with her monocle. 

Hari offered her list to the witch after lowering her blade hand. “These are the names I found so far that I could not locate the trial transcripts for.”

The witch was frowning as she looked at the names. “Odd” she muttered then she looked at Hari and Hari straightened as if she were under the crucial eyes of her archery instructor. “Your Name?”

“Hari”

“I’m Amelia Bones”

“Are you a member of Susan Bone’s family?” Hari asked recognizing the name

The witch smiled “I’m her aunt. You go to school with her?”

“I’m in a few of her classes” Hari replied

The witch looked startled “Your full name please”

Hari cringed, that wasn’t a question and they both knew it “Hari Potter” She said quietly, here came the change in attitude.

“How did you get in here? I though you were ….” She trailed off at the seriously confused look on Hari’s face. “Did you get any owls this summer?” The witch asked seemingly confused

“I got my Hogwarts letter as per normal. I even got an extra ’emergency’ acceptance letter for my half-brother, apparently, they didn’t know he was eligible till we got into the country. It was delivered that night” Hari said confused. Nico had offered to take her place when she grumbled about going back to school. She’d almost taken the offer but didn’t want him to have to suffer through the school by himself. That meant she had to go to protect him. He’d been a little excited for his own letter to Hogwarts. They had sent Hedwig to reply that yes, he was going, the next morning.

“Wait, got into the country?”

Hari nodded “I’ve been in the UK for all of three days” Hari said confused “I met with the goblins yesterday to make sure my vaults were in order, and they were. Ma’am is there a reason you’re looking at me like that?”

“Have you been out of country all summer?” The witch asked growing pale, she was panicking a little.

“Yes, I reached London on the train back from school then I was in the United States all summer.” Hari explained “Is something wrong?”

“So, you haven’t been to a little suburb called Little Whinging in Surrey this summer?”

“I haven’t stepped foot in that area since before the Quidditch world cup last year” Hari said seriously confused and getting annoyed “Would you please explain what is going on?”

The woman looked seriously stressed out. “You’re sure, you haven’t been in the country in the last thirty days”

“Yes” Hari snapped “I was in the freaking US all summer!”

The woman paled considerably “I’m sorry. Please excuse me” The witch said walking away. Hari grumbled and walked out of the Ministry. She flooed back to the house.

She sneezed. The air was full of dust. She blinked. The boys were all covered in dust ripping up the living room carpet. When she said boys… it was more two adults and a boy. But it was Sirius and Remus with Nico all trying to look like they were innocent and failing. She later learned that Nico decided to uses his sword to slash at Mrs. Black’s portrait causing it to be absorbed into his sword. Apparently, he’d felt like he had to destroy it, so he did. The house had felt less Mad since he’d done it. It was noticeable to all of them.

She should probably explain a little bit first. Sirius had picked her and Nico up from the entrance of the Underworld, she’d contacted him earlier after the whole Labyrinth mess. Including finding out part of a prophecy hanging over their heads with the titans, only it wouldn’t actually happen until Hari turned Sixteen. Sirius had been giddy to see her. The fact he got an extra nephew was sending Nico for a tizzy, due to how excited Sirius got. Nico had already tried to run away, until Sirius proved he was ‘awesome’. Nico was still unaccustomed to adults caring two cents about him and having Sirius teaching him pranks right off the bat, blew him away.

They were currently at The Black Ancestral house. They were here partly to clean stuff but mostly because the wards on it, making locating them or the house almost impossible. The House needed some serious work, yes, the adults had dropped that pun more then once. Sirius had settled into living in the house so he wasn’t in the cave by Hogsmeade.

Remus was there helping him and for running the errands. She’d given him money to buy anything they needed from the ‘House’ money. Sirius didn’t really think about that sort of thing. Hari however had suffered Persephone and Hades lessons of running a kingdom… a house was just a serious tiny version of that. She’d started setting up the separating of moneys almost immediately, Sirius had just handed the books and all that over to her.

Remus was in the house to keep an eye on Sirius and Hari when she returned, though he’d been shocked by Nico. They got along well enough, Nico was twitchy, but getting better. Remus was helping Nico with his English, learning tricks to combat his dyslexia and tricking his brain into reading English if it was in English. The fact that Remus spoke Italian helped a lot when Nico had his freak outs. They were also teaching her Italian while they were at it.

Hari also commandeered the ‘garden’ to train in. More like it was a training field where the plants attacked when the first walked out. Hari gave up and took clipping from everything putting them in pots with the other’s help before her and Nico torched the garden. Kreacher, had looked at her oddly ever since she’d done it. But nothing came back up. They dug up the roots and burnt anything that still lived. Then they tilled it, added some new soil and replanted everything neatly. There was even a paddock and shelter outside for Buckbeak to happily stretch out in. He wasn’t allowed to lay on the newly planted garden but he seemed fine with that.

Kreacher was the Black’s house-elf. Winky and Dobby had come to the house shortly after she returned to help fix up the house. The two elves were a little nervous around the ancient one they were sharing space with.

But with the extra hands they had more then managed to clean and fix up the house for the most part in a very short period of time. Nico had taken over the bedroom beside hers. Neither said anything about the adults sharing a room. Nico blushed a little and Hari didn’t honestly think anything of it. She teased them in the mornings getting blushes out of them both. Nico seemed to find this fascinating but didn’t say anything.

What they were doing, going back to the situation at hand was… Ripping the parlor apart. Apparently, Nico had gotten his first introduction to Doxies. The adult had watched him skewer them with bones in his panic. They had cleaned them up and said nothing about the little freak out.

Hari decided as she looked at the egg covered curtains that they were just getting new ones. She snapped her fingers and burnt the curtains and the eggs with her fire. The dead doxies in their buckets were also roasted. Hari had been doing a lot of burning, they were also sowing the ash into the garden so as to make it grow better.

After they finished cleaning the room they started going through the items. Hari accidently made a comment of “How much do you think other Black houses would pay for this stuff?” while looking at the antiques, dishes, and silverware. Sirius must have taken great pleasure in the thought as he was writing letters that night with a grin still on his face. Hari had snuck a glance at what he was writing seeing he was saying to request what they wanted for a price or else he was using it for curse target practice. He sent the letters with broken pieces from the mismatched plates and tea sets from the replacement cupboard inside them. 

Nico was frowning as he was looking at one piece in particular in a cabinet. She picked it up and it was a locket that wouldn’t open. She frowned then motioned with her finger to keep quiet at Nico and snuck it upstairs. She set it into a box. Hades had given them each one, it was for containing things that they didn’t want to be tracked or from influencing the environment around them. To say the house seemed to brighten almost immediately after the lid was closed made the siblings frown. They would figure out what it was later. 

The next morning however they had to go buy their school supplies. Nico needed the full set where she just needed to update hers. They cheated and shadow traveled to Diagon alley. Nico was staring at anything and everything. He was excited and awed. Gloria seemed to have no issue staying on his shoulder however.

Hari smiled shaking her head, she’d done the same thing. Both were in muggle clothes because they were easier to move in, they were also both wearing their weapons. Nico had his sword hanging off his belt while she was sporting twin short swords now. She’d upgraded from knives; she also wasn’t trying conceal them either or she would have worn the knives. Nico and her also had knives at the small of their backs just in case they needed close quarter weapons.

They started with robes. Madam Malkin had looked at his sword nervous and Hari made him hand it over for his fittings. Gloria had to hop down but she followed him to the back. She’d tried on her robes before they came to find they still fit properly. They had been a little long last year and now they were perfect.

Once the torture was over, Hari handed over Nico’s sword. Gloria it seemed moved from his arms to his shoulder as he fitted the sword to his belt once more. He was holding the grip for comfort. Hari paid for the robes tucking them into the expandable bag Sirius had thrown at her before they left, it had become Nico’s until they could get him a proper replacement. Not that Nico was all that willing to give up this one.

She got them both ice cream, because why not pump the kid full of sugar. He needed the treat after Robe shopping, after all neither of them liked touch and robe fitting was touchy. They had just finished their ice cream when a voice called out.

“Hari?”

Hari turned and smiled seeing a familiar overly tall ginger “Bill” she said smiling

Bill went to hug her only to have a Nico pushing him away then latching on to Hari like a monkey around her waist. “My sister, you can’t have her!” Nico told Bill which received a really confused look in reply.

“Sorry, He’s my half-brother.” Hari said ruffling the messy long hair. “Overly possessive little brother”

Bill choked standing there stunned “This has to do with the man that was at the third task, doesn’t it?”

Hari nodded. She’d added Nico to her vaults two days ago where she learned that she was blood adopted. Like full on she was a Potter by blood rights, which meant as an adult she can fully claim the family vaults once she comes of age. There was also the part she realized that if she hadn’t been blood adopted, she would not have had proper genes, they had actually given her a genetic code when they adopted her. Adding Nico onto the vaults had been a little difficult until they tested his magic, which showed they were half-siblings from a god. The goblins didn’t care how it works so long as everything worked properly.

“You mean our Father?” Nico asked

Bill stared at him and shook his head. “That’s how you’re related?”

Hari nodded

Bill frowned and just went with it. He remembered him being introduced as an uncle last summer, but that had changed at the third task. To find out there was a sibling… it almost bothered him but they seemed to be very fond of each other. So, he let it go.

Bill walked with them for a bit. Shopping for first year stuff was sort of odd but really interesting, he hadn’t done this since the twins. He was a little startled by Nico and Hari in the bookshop though. They were both upstairs where the less favorable or legible books were. Each going through different ones and forming a good pile between the two of them. Hari bought them all including the school ones, purposely getting their history books written in Greek. Both were talking of starting a library which confused him, almost like they had a house together.

Once they got outside Nico shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and shivered. The wind had picked up.

“Cold?” She asked

“I’m still uses to the states weather” Nico admitted looking up at the grey skies. Gloria bumped her head into his cheek getting a smile from him.

“I know, I’m a little chilled too” She said smiling

Nico gave her a dirty look and she laughed. She was wearing shorts over tights, a tee with a leather jacket where as he was in black jeans, a black long sleeve and his aviator jacket.

“Come on, Ghost King. Food” She said smiling “I want tea”

They ate. Nico was wide eyed as he drank butterbeer. She fed Bill too. He thanked her then as they talked admitted that Fleur was working at Gringotts in the administration, mostly making sure the humans did their jobs on time.

Hari then dropped the bomb, “Did she ask you out or did you ask her?”

Bill went almost as red as his hair. “She asked me…” he admitted “but I asked for a second date… then asked if she’d actually be my girlfriend… we’re still dating”

“She charming you or just natural?” Hari asked leaning forward on the table smiling, her hands wrapped around the china cup.

He frowned “She’s never used her charms on me. Or if she has, I never noticed. I wear a charm against it due to how often you find that crap tomb raiding.”

Hari nodded her head amused

Nico’s eyes started to sparkle. Yep Bill now had his undivided attention. Bill told Nico stories over food and Nico was an excited sponge. After the serious depression she’d barely pulled him out of this summer she was glad. They had to stop because Bill had to go to work. Nico would not stop talking about Bill as they finished their shopping.

Nico did not like wand shopping. Ollivander creeped him out. Coming from a guy who summoned the dead, you could see it was bad. The wand Nico got was Yew, though the core was making Ollivander look at them so oddly.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” Hari said “You pulled this stunt with my wand too” she stated hands on her hips.

“The unicorn whose Hair is in this wand was a shadow stallion. A black Unicorn” Ollivander stated

Hari rolled her eyes “Sounds about right.” She looked at a confused Nico. “Death aligned” she stated

Nico breathed in a sigh of relief. “Good, Dad might have an aneurism if it was life orientated” Nico said

The siblings laughed as Hari paid for the wand. They left and Nico muttered about creepy eyes. Yep Ollivander was a bit hard to get used to.

Once they were loaded down with everything, they could possibly need, want, or desire… her vaults almost competed with a single room that their dad built for his immortal wife. It hadn’t even made a dent. They made sure that Nico had a trunk. They also commissioned a second tent identical to the one before. The man was happy to take her money again, having kept her order on file. She would once again send Winky for Nico’s new tent. 

They returned to The Black house to find Sirius having a blast destroying a set of dishes. He then swept them up and dumped them into a box. He was whistling as he addressed the box and owl posted it somewhere.

Hari raised an eyebrow. Well that was perfectly normal… not.

Remus smiled “He got a letter from Narcissa saying he wouldn’t dare send her the family dishes in pieces. He’s been filling that box for the last three hours. He’s also bent and twisted the matching silverware.”

Hari raised an eyebrow. “Letting off a little steam then huh?”

Remus made a noise of affirmative in his throat before walking away, from the smell he was brewing something. They ended up following him to the kitchens where he’d been working. Hari and Nico were listening to stories of the Marauders over coffee with Remus when Sirius sat down and added things to the stories with a grin. Nico and Hari were both captivated by the stories.

Three days later Remus walked them to King’s cross. Sirius was in dog form scampering beside them on a leash. Remus was grinning as he held the leash. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time he’d used it, hinting that Sirius was using the same leash he’d been forced to wear more then once when they were in school. It also showed some age as Padfoot had apparently scratched at it more then once.

Twenty minutes later found them decently on time for the train. They weren’t doing the mass rush but they weren’t overly early either. Hari had Padfoot’s leash and she headed for the door. Nico was standing on the bottom rung of the trolley holding his trunk. Remus was pushing his trolley and Nico closed his eyes as they went into the wall. He managed not to shadow travel in his fear. He opened them to see Hari and Padfoot waiting for them grinning.

Nico stared with his mouth wide open. “by Hades” he muttered

Remus laughed behind him as he wheeled the trolley with Nico still standing on it, his cat sitting contently on the trunk still. They moved forward so they didn’t get run over by the next group coming in. They walked over to the train where Nico was having a moment of awe. Remus levitated their trunks on mostly because he was on a bad moon.

Hari gave Remus a hug and made sure to give a similar one to Padfoot. Nico shyly gave a hug to Remus quietly thanking him. They waved before the two men, one in dog form vanished with a crack. Hari had noticed how Remus had been ready to cry. They went to go find a compartment. Hari was thinking about how she should have grown up with him delivering her every year not… this. No wonder both men had fled.

They finally settled on a compartment. There was another girl inside looking oddly confused. She blinked at them like she wasn’t really seeing them at all.

“You mind if we join you?” Hari asked as they stood at the door.

“You’re of the Underworld” she said almost as if she wasn’t wholly alone in her mind.

“You’re clear sighted” Nico stated “I’ve only ever met one before.”

Nico didn’t even wait to be invited in before he was dragging his trunk in and sitting across from her.

Hari smiled a little confused but went with it. She levitated the trunks up to the storage rack. Hedwig was asleep in the luggage rack as Gloria was purring around Nico’s neck.

Neville joined them not long after announcing to Hari that he got his own wand, though he still had his Dad’s. Nico was introduced after that. The blond smiled a little nervous but then got excited about the cacti he was holding.

Ginny came in like a breeze complaining she hadn’t seen any of them over summer. Nico was wire tight as she looked at him. Hari had to keep him from reaching for his sword, or the knife at his lower back. Nico was watching Ginny making her so uncomfortable she left.

They had already started moving when Hermione came around. At this point Hari was already introducing Nico to wizarding candy. It was entertaining to watch as some things freaked him right out, other times he was completely okay with it. He’d also become mildly fascinated by Chocolate frog cards. But he swore he wasn’t going to be obsessed with it like he had been with Mythomagic. They both knew he had the figure in his trunk at that moment. He and Neville ended up having a conversation about the cards, neither of them was really interested but the moving pictures were what was making Nico frown at the cards.

Hari looked up as Hermione collapsed into the seat beside her grinning. “What took you so long?” Hari asked smiling

“They made me prefect” She said awed

“Okay, I figured that. Who’s the boys’?”

Hermione cringed “Ronald”

Hari darkened “How in Hades did that happen?” she asked

Hermione shrugged “I don’t know” she stated annoyed

“Who?” Nico asked confused

“A bastard. If he goes after you, I’m stripping him and putting him in girls nickers before I hang him in the Entrance Hall” Hari said darkly

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Okay” Nico muttered going back to listening to Neville natter about plants

“So, Hermione, how was Bulgaria?” Hari asked 

Hermione blushed a little “It was Great! It was beautiful!”

Hermione ranted for a good hour if not more. Then she paused slowing down blushing bright red. “I think I Love him” Hermione said, her face might as well have been steaming she was blushing so hard

“What happened?” Hari asked grinning, wanting all the details

Hermione was going off about how he’d insisted on holding her hand. And how it was such a thrill. To see him so awkward was amazing, she’d even taken time out so that he could train. She sighed talking about him flying. How she could never read when he was flying even if she tried.

“Okay I’ll be writing him a letter giving him the shovel talk” Hari said grinning

“Shovel talk?” Neville asked

Hari grinned “The fact I’ll need one if he breaks her heart so I can bury the corpse” She then poked Nico “If you decide you want to date a boy. I get to give him the shovel talk before anyone else. I claim that right as oldest.”

Nico laughed blushing trying to cover up the embarrassment of being outed like that.

“I’ll help with the corpse” Neville and Hermione offered in unison

Nico ducked his head burying his head into the collar of his jacket. Gloria purred really loudly in response.

They started getting close to the school. They got changed into their robes. Nico wasn’t too happy about having to packing his sword, but he did, the knife was covered by the robes. Gloria was allowed to go with him however. They finally slowed and reached the platform. Hermione left early as she had to help with the train unload and all that stuff.

Hari brought Nico over to Hagrid grinning. “Nico, this is Hagrid, He’s a friend.”

“What yeh got here?” Hagrid asked

“Watch out for him for me, He’s special to me”

“Got it!” Hagrid said grinning

Hari squeezed Nico’s shoulder, “Follow Hagrid, I’ll see you at the castle.” Then she leaned into his ear “He’s a huge softy.” 

Nico nodded not happy but giving a good act for her.

Hari smiled and walked away with the crowd catching up with her friends. Nico stayed and already missed her. He was walking down with the rest of the first-year students and was trembling. Then he was awed. Now he understood why she’d made him do this. The castle was amazing, though he wasn’t sure which he preferred, Hogwarts or Dad’s Palace.

Hari meanwhile watched people get shoved into a carriage and driven up to the castle. She didn’t feel all that odd standing beside Luna and the winged horses. They drove to the castle and piled into the castle. She was sitting at the table with the twins and Lee across form her and Neville beside her as the others came in and sat around them. Hermione dropped into the other spot beside her once everything was done.

They looked at the new teacher as everyone was still filing in. Pink, lots of pink. She was a squat woman that looked like a human poorly transfigured into a toad. It wasn’t exactly noticeable that she was toady but the more you looked the more toad you saw in the human. She was also looked like she was trying too hard to be cute. She was wearing a horrible pink Alice band, the bow on it was more appropriate to a first-year girl. 

Nico did not like the little room they were told to wait in to the point he was spinning his skull ring to keep from shadow traveling to Hari. He’d gotten pretty good at it over the summer. Hari had taught him how though he had passed out for a week the first time, and seriously needed sleep after doing it even now. Though at least he wasn’t ending up in China anymore needing to call his horse to come and get him. 

They were finally allowed into the hall. Nico gave a little wave to Hari who returned it grinning. He did not like all the eyes on him and he knew he couldn’t get out of this; Hari had warned him at least. The hat looked like an old rag and it sang. He stared at it wide-eyed like a few around him. Nico jumped as he was one of the first ones called that year. He was sorted to Hufflepuff and they cheered for him. He looked at Hari before he went to his own table looking bothered.

The food arrived and Nico was no where near the most shocked. He was frowning as he wasn’t used to this, they had servants in the Underworld where this just appeared. An older blond boy explained it to them “It’s the house-elves, they transport the food with magic from the kitchens below us.” he said

A few of the other kids nodded. Nico was looking at the food. He started serving himself and was shocked when more food was added to his plate.

“You’re too skinny” the girl said smiling at him

He was really weirded out with how accepting these people were. It would all change the moment they found out he was a Son of Hades. Then he saw one boy get up to swap out dishes. His hair was the strangest shade of purple and his lip was pierced in three places. Okay, maybe they weren’t normal either.

They were talking as they ate. Nico was being introduced. He learned that the boy beside him was named Cedric, and was their head boy. Nico had been to enough boarding schools to know what that meant. They actually got him talking. Then the laughing started. He was talking then he forgot the damn word, “il forcone!” he snapped after getting mad at himself and trying to talk with his hands. The Hufflepuffs around him were laughing.

“A what?”

Nico picked up his fork as that’s the damn word he forgot and pointed at it making a face that had Cedric biting his lip to keep from laughing as Nico was so irate with himself.

They teased him then asked him about being Italian. Nico looked at them confused. That’s when they realized he didn’t know he was Italian.

“di Angelo, means Angel in Italian” one of the second-year girls said frowning

“I grew up in Washington, DC” Nico stated frowning. He was staring at his plate… he had so many questions he hadn’t thought to ask… Maybe he’d bug Hari to see if their father could answer. They let the conversation draw to an end starting up a new one entirely.

Once the food was done, they learned who the pink thing at the head table was. It was their new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Delores Umbridge just kept talking to the point that she was losing the attention of the entire hall.

“Whose up for betting how good or bad this one’s going to be?” Hari asked with a smirk “I’m betting three galleons she’s the worst yet”

“Nah, No one can be worse then Lockhart” Seamus said “I’ll bet three Galleons on that”

“Hey, she might be good” Hermione said

They all looked at her… “No, I’m not betting” She stated frowning “You know you shouldn’t be gambling”

They all kept looking at her… “Oh alright! A galleon that she’s just below Professor Lupin but not as twitchy as professor Moody.” Hermione said in a huff

“Bet two galleons she’s going to be like Quirrell.” Dean said grinning

“Dead?” Hermione and Hari asked

There was laughter that interrupted the ongoing speech. The new Professor gave them the stink eye, still talking.

“Don’t eat me I’m not a fly” Hari muttered

There was blinking then one of the younger boys actually fell off the bench they were laughing so hard.

“Hem, Hem”

The laughing stopped. “Lockhart” was the resounding word, a good chunk of the hall heard. Anyone that knew the professor in question shared a look and smiled. Umbridge glared at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore did his usual short speech and sent them off to bed.

Once everything was said and done. Hari bugged Hermione for the password before Hermione went off to lead the first years to the dorms. Hari went up to Nico who hugged her, he was seriously not happy with her. He did not like the idea of being without her. She squeezed him. “It’ll be fine. Hufflepuff is the chilliest house of them all”

“I’ve noticed” Nico muttered

Nico was still hugging her around the waist when Cedric walked up to her. Hari had to shoo Nico off to follow his prefect or he’d never learn how to get into his dorm. He was muttering things under his breath and giving her the betrayed look. Not that any of his fellows seemed to speak a word of Italian from the confused looks. She smiled at Cedric “So what did you need?” Hari asked watching Nico leave, he gave her one last pleading look before he was out of the Great Hall.

“Who is he to you?” Cedric asked frowning “He’s Italian but doesn’t seem to know that or anything about his family. Where is he from?”

“He’s my half-brother. I’d prefer that not a lot of people knew right now. They might start questioning how.” Hari explained “Also with his family… well his memory of Italy has been erased. We haven’t convinced the one who knows what was going on to tell him anything yet.”

Cedric nodded “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Thanks. Talk to me if anything comes up or you need help handling him. I’ll try to kill as much of his energy as I can when I can” Hari said “But he’s got a few emotional issues we’re working on.”

“We’ll see what we can do” Cedric said with a soft smile.

They parted ways heading to their own dorms.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Hermione was having a moment. She’d seen the advertisement form the twins put on the board asking for … test subjects, not that she knew what they were. They made it to the Great Hall. Hari grabbed for the tea pot before she’d even fully sat down. Hermione was going for the coffee pot. Hari thought about, Nico was going to be in the coffee pot too. Mornings sucked.

She was sitting with her tea when Angelina walked up to them. “Listen I’ve been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain” 

“Nice one” Hari said grinning

“Yeah well. We need a new Keeper now that Oliver’s left. Tryouts are on Friday at five o’clock. And I want the whole team there, alright”

“Should we look for a back up Seeker too?” Hari asked blushing

Angelina gave her a look. “That might be a good idea…” she nodded “I’ll consider it.”

She wandered off down the table. After eating, the Heads of Houses were walking up the tables handing out timetables. The horror of their first set of classes was agonizing. But they went through the day.

Binns was the usual drone. Hari was playing with her hair as she was reading her book. Hermione was giving her a dirty look as she was reading her text book in Greek because it was so much easier to read and tune out the ghost teaching them.

They moved onto potions. Snape must have been in a mood because he was being unusually sadistic. Hari failed the class all because she blurred and muddled the fourth step. She was also the only one in the class unable to hand in a potion. She left while everyone else was cleaning up. Afterall she had nothing to clean up.

As she reached the Great Hall for lunch Nico was running and hugging her. The Italian that came out made her smile after her miserable lesson. Though he was a mix of excited and annoyed.

But apparently, he didn’t get lost because on of the ghost he found in the corridor this morning. The female ghost was really helpful and ever got him to his classes with a ‘friend’, her name was Meg. Meg was pretty obviously a muggle-born or the like as when she looked at Hari there was no awe outside of being Nico’s sister. There was a temptation to do a picnic so they could eat together but it was too miserable outside so she shuffled them off to their table to talk, or more likely sit in silence and fake interacting with people.

The next class Hari was in made her immeasurable glad that she could drop it after this year… if she even stayed in school. It was starting to seem more and more likely that she wasn’t going to live to graduate. Hari wasn’t too interested in the class; however, the dream diary could be completed easily, especially with the old back up of ‘make it up’.

However, D.A.D.A was next, now to see if she was winning the bet or not. She walked into the classroom. Hermione was sitting beside her. Hermione had her hand in the air quickly enough. Hermione set the whole class into an uproar. It was made clear that they were not going to learn how to use spells in this class… at all.

After a very, very long class. All those in on the bet handed Hari their galleons. It was already determined in that one class Umbridge was going to be the worst teacher yet.

“So,” Dean turned to Hari, “when are we starting a tutoring group? Because I’m not learning theory all year. Every year we need to cast the spells to pass. Not even Ravenclaws can pull that off.”

“I’d be hard pressed to see Hermione pull that off” Neville said.

Hari was frowning. “Let me think about it.” Hari said

Nico ran over to her with his nose scrunched up cutely “Training, Please, tell me we’re training” He was jittery. Ah, he’d built up too much energy sitting too long. Not to mention the amount of people was triggering that flee instinct in him.

“Yeah, after dinner, and don’t make yourself sick eating too fast!” she finished saying by yelling at him as he ran away to eat.

Hari ate and met Nico in the Entrance Hall. They wandered up to the room Hari had asked Dobby to find for them before they arrived at Hogwarts this year, she’d been sick of constantly swapping what abandoned classroom she used to train in. Dobby called it the Come and Go room or the Room of Requirement.

The two of them ran up and did as instructed paced three times in front of the trolls learning Ballet tapestry. The door opened and they both ran in. It was perfect. It was a huge open field. The two of them grabbed the practice weapons from the rack to the side and started warming up and stretching with their weapons.

They sparred to warm up. Hari followed up by teaching Nico this trick their father had taught her. After a while of that they started doing training maneuvers... then they started on their gymnastic skills as a way to get out of trouble while moving into the next fighting stance. As children of Hades, they weren’t known for their physical prowess, they had to make due with speed and surprise. Also, Monsters were always stronger, they as Demi-gods had to be faster and smarter.

They were taking a break munching on one of the pomegranates Hari had smuggled into the school. Hari was thinking about this room and learning to fight with magic here… it would be doable. But would it really be necessary? … It would also cut into her Nico time unless he was in on it too.

“You’re thinking” Nico stated making her smile at how he’d picked that up so quickly.

“Umbridge. She’s not teaching us anything useful and a classmate asked me before dinner about a tutor group so we can pass our exams this year.” Hari explained falling backwards into the grass. 

“I like being taught by you, but … I don’t want to share” Nico muttered

“What if it’s only Neville?” Hari asked amused

“Okay, but no Hermione. I like her well enough… but”

“Yeah she can be pretty intense” Hari said smiling

Nico just gave her a look that said it all. Him and Hermione got along in small doses and not while studying, that took all of ten minutes in the library to figure out. They did a little bit of Underworld training before Hari walked Nico down to the Hufflepuff dorm. It was in the same run as the kitchens. So, she was well aware of where it was thanks to Hermione’s little crusade last year.

Hari then went to go do her homework before bed. She was ignoring Hermione losing her ever loving mind over the Twins and Lee trying to test their experimental joke items on Firsties. Hermione got them to stop by threatening them with Mrs. Weasley. Hari ducked behind her chairback. That was beyond low even for Hermione.

Hari actually managed to get most of her homework done in a single sitting due to running off all her extra energy with Nico. Hermione was still muttering darkly under her breath about the twins when they finally went up to bed.

The following day was much better, it was Charms and Transfiguration. They got O.W.L lectures from both. Then it was Care for Magical Creatures. Hagrid decided for their first lesson he was showing them something neat. It turned out to be the things that pulled the carriages ‘Thestral’ Eurytion had called them. Hari was smiling and crouching near them as they ate the meat Hagrid used to attract them.

Neville was trembling. “Neville?” Hari called out

“They…” he managed to stutter out

Hari fell over and looked at the Thestral nudging her. Apparently, attention was more appealing then food in this one’s case.

Neville approached as Hari was distracting it with a huge smile. “Neville come here, they’re soft” Hari said awed

Neville gave her the strangest look of awe “You aren’t… well, weirded out?” Neville asked

Hari tilted her head confused as the Thestral was pulling at her braid. “No. Come on, I had Max with me last year.”

Neville smiled and nervously approached. He touched the nose that was lifting up Hari’s braid and his eyes went wide and he smiled “They are soft!” he exclaimed surprised

Hari laughed

“What are you two seeing? There’s nothing there!” Hermione stated annoyed almost stomping her foot.

Hari looked at her confused “Yes there is, they pull the school carriages.”

“Nothing pulls the carriages!” Hermione stated annoyed

Hari and Neville shared a look then at the horse they were stroking.

“Hermione they aren’t automated cars, nor is there a track in the road up” Hari stated “Something has to pull them.”

Hermione closed her mouth after being about to argue with them again. She was actually thinking about it. Hagrid went on with the lesson. Hari standing under her chosen Thestal’s head as it put its head over her shoulder also looking to be listening to Hagrid. Neville now had his own that was nuzzling into his hands. He wasn’t scared of them anymore.

They then headed to the green houses. They passed Ginny and Luna’s classes on the way getting a few snidbits of conversation in before they had to get to their classes. Hari looked at Luna and could tell she was like Rachel, but weaker then the ginger in that sense.

Herbology again reminded them of their up coming O.W.L.s. Hari was really starting to question if she should back out early and not even bother with this anymore… no she was going to finish, if only so Nico wasn’t alone.

After dinner Nico and her were training, it was enough to settle them into their homework. They did their homework stretched out on the grass. Nico finished first due to his lack of a work load compared to hers. He was playing with his Underworld powers. He was summoning a new ghost. He was after the Ghost King. This time however he got a cat… he made a noise that made Hari look up. He was cuddling the ghost cat smiling. Hari smiled shaking her head going back to one of the many essays she was forced to write. Hari was really glad now that she’s set herself up as an average student. It made all her homework easier because she didn’t have to make it perfect. She just kept it at exactly the same quality.

The rest of the week followed close to the same pattern. Some days Hari put more effort into homework then others or she just went to playing with her magic with Nico. Nico on Thursday raised a skeletal cat, there was even a faint outline of its form as a ghost. Nico was grinning, though trying not to, as the cat was actually making purring noises as it was laying on his head. They were both a little confused how it was possible but they both chalked it up to ‘magic’.

It was finally Friday. Classes went as well as they could manage. The Quidditch team bolted dinner down and then headed out for the try outs. Nico chased her to see what this was all about. Hari had directed him up to the stands. Hermione seated herself beside him as Nico was staring down at the field confused. It was like a foot ball field but with three gold hoops at each end. The team were all in red robes that looked more comfortable then their school robes. They were certainly better for mobility. The twins were carrying out a large box carrying two odd looking short bats. While Hari was dumping golf balls in a bucket.

They hadn’t exactly explained Quidditch to him, no one really had. Hermione looked at him and started explaining what each thing was… coming from her Binns class was more interesting. Maybe they were related some how? Because she could make Greek myths sound like a snore fest. But she did have a slightly livelier voice, if snotty know-it-all was lively. 

The team kicked into the air. Nico froze. He was watching them fly. That’s when he noticed his sister in the air… she was flying. She was in Zeus’s domain. Gods, he was going to kill her!

Hari was just finished setting her area up for golf ball tossing when she noticed something. Nico was losing all colour as he stared at her in the air. She waved a ‘T’ for time out at Angelina. Their Captain nodded to her and waved her off starting without her. Hari flew over to Nico. Nico was shaking worse then she’d ever seen him.

She was hovering on the benches near him only this seemed to make him freak out worse. The shadows were moving around him as if he was prepping to shadow travel. Hari had to land and the moment her feet touched the stands she had an armful of panicky Nico going off in rapid Italian. She managed to figure out what the hell was wrong. His mother was killed by Zeus and the air was his domain… Nico couldn’t fly, Zeus would kill him. That was his greatest fear right now…. Fuck she was going to have to talk to Professor Sprout about excusing him from flying lessons. They would never get Nico in the air.

Wait… where did this memory of Zeus killing his mom come from? Was he pulling memories to the surface in his panic? This was not how she wanted them to resurface. She didn’t want him thinking Zeus would kill her for playing Quidditch, he hadn’t in four years she doubted he’d start now.

Hari got Nico somewhat calm. “Hey… I’ll meet you in the training spot after practice, alright? We’ll work on something special tonight”

Nico nodded. He looked a little depressed but he could not, he just couldn’t see his sister in the air and not worry for her. But she’d already been doing it for years without issue. Nico jumped slightly as a Hellhound fell easily into step with him as he walked back to the castle. He smiled and the two of them set off running, racing to the seventh floor.

Try outs were long, boring, and Hari had taken to hanging upside down for the heck of it. More then one person looked at her like she was completely insane. She didn’t have a lot of Seeker prospects coming her way.

“Hari, stop making us all nauseous!” Angelina yelled at her. Hari dropped and twisted in the air before righting herself. A few of the try out applicants paled out and turned a little green. They did a little checking on Seeker potentials… but there didn’t seem to be any really interested in the position… or were too intimidated by Hari’s skills to try.

They did find their Keeper; Hari wasn’t happy but she wasn’t about to say anything. They also had some prospective back-ups for the team.

That night, Hari and Nico were playing with a summoning ritual. The Hellhound was gnawing on a bone as they worked, glad for the bit of home. Hari placed that funky ass Locket in the center. They had made a guess and figured it was either a trapped soul or maybe they could summon a ghost to figure out what it was.

Only instead of a ghost… they ended up with a bunch of items that all felt the same. The Hellhound was growling forcing them back away from their ritual. It was growling at the items. That was certainly odd.

Hari and Nico both crawled under the Hellhound laying on the floor to look at the items. There were four of them now. The original locket. There was now a golden two handled cup with a badger engraved on it, a chunky gold ring with a black stone on it, and a silver tiara circlet cross thing that looked like a bird with a huge blue stone in the middle on top of their original item. They could just make out words on the rim of the Diadem, ‘Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure,’.

“Isn’t a ‘wit’ something people used to call a dick?” Nico asked frowning with his head tilted.

Hari looked at him then started laughing. The Hellhound stopped growling to give them a look under its belly and a soft whuff was directed at them. 

They crawled forward to look at the items batter. Their Hellhound Guard standing over them growling at the items again. Nico called on his powers and poked the Cup. There was a loud hissing before it suddenly spewed out green smoke and formed a familiar but older face to Hari. “Tom” she said shocked and wide eyed. 

“You know him?” Nico asked frowning

“He’s the one that’s been trying to kill me for the last fifteen years” Hari admitted

Nico turned dark, banishing the soul to the Underworld. He did the same to all of the other items. All but one was at a different age too. Though they were also getting weaker as Nico touched them and sent the soul shard off.

Hari picked up the ring to look at it and the gold setting disintegrated. The black stone felt heavy and powerful in her hand.

Nico was looking at it. “What is it?”

“I don’t know” Hari said frowning, but she felt like it was hers. She tapped the skull around her neck and the mouth opened revealing an empty space. Hari set the stone inside it and the mouth closed behind it. “We’re going to ignore it till we can talk to Dad, Kay?”

Nico nodded. They gathered up the remaining items and stashed them in their trunks. The Hellhound wasn’t growling at them anymore so they figured they were safe enough. Hari had to figure out what to do with the items before they revealed they had them though. 

Hari didn’t get a lot of time to think because of Quidditch Practice the next morning. At least Angelina had made it at a decent hour. She wasn’t mean like Wood was. But apparently, they didn’t try to use the girl’s stairs as a deterrent to go to practice due to their first year with him as captain. Wood had learned the Sonorous spell just so he could yell at them to wake up. An older girl had silence charmed the girls’ dorm to tune him out one Saturday morning, only that for three weeks he kept trying to yell through it. McGonagall had told them to stop as the Ravenclaws were complaining that they could hear Wood over in their tower. It escalated to Wood waking up the entire castle including the teachers on the third Saturday.

Hari actually got to eat breakfast and Lunch before practice. She even having time to get her broom after eating. Hari was frowning as Ron was already out there in his normal robes when the others got there. They got to practicing. This time they got Ron fitted into Wood’s old robes, which fit quite well. Ronald didn’t look too impressed but he also wasn’t making a stink about it either. The twins were just glaring at him. They had been at odds all summer and into the new school year. 

The Slytherin team were in the stands watching. Hari knew Nico had buried himself in their training room, she’d go see him after practice and tell him about her talk she’d had earlier with his head of house, Professor Sprout. 

Hari was really good at ignoring the team; however, today’s training session was all about Ron and she didn’t need any practice catching the snitch either. So, she and the team were all playing Chasers as they just kept passing the quaffle. Ron was failing miserably. The twins and Hari were sent to get their respective balls as apparently six Chasers was too much for Ron.

“How did he pass the try outs again?” Hari asked as they dismounted to get out their equipment.

“I don’t know” Gorge said

“I just hope he hasn’t peaked early” Fred muttered annoyed

They got back into the air. Hari lost herself in the chase of the snitch. Only pulling out of it at the whistle blew.

She looked around to see Angelina chewing out Ron for not doing his job properly.

They got back to it and then the whistle blew again. This was getting stupid. She snapped and Alicia said “Katie”

Hari felt her blood run cold as Katie was pale and covered in blood. Fred and George took her to the hospital wing as Angelina called off practice. Hari sighed and pulled out her wand summoning the snitch to her. They weren’t allowed to let them stay flying; it was a used one anyway so no one cared who touched it.

They returned to the castle and Ron slumped his way to the common room. Hari meanwhile went to the Room of Requirement. Nico was sitting in the middle of their grassy area talking with a new ghost. He was better at keeping from being taken advantage by them now. This one was arguing wizarding Etiquettes with him.

Hari sat down beside him smiling. She handed him food as he absents mindedly brought it to his mouth and ate. She giggled as he figured out what it was and made a pleased noise. Looking at the chocolate éclair she’d gotten from the kitchens. She had a small picnic basket full of food.

She then however went to do her homework laying in the grass beside him. He was having his ghost time and she had essays to write.

“That’s wrong”

Hari looked at the ghostly finger pointing at the use of moonstone she had three lines up. She frowned and pulled out her reference book. The ghost was right, she’d written the use of fairy wings not Moonstone. “Thanks” she muttered scratching it out and fixing the sentence.

“Potions?” Nico asked

“Yeah, it has to be done for Monday” Hari muttered then remembered part of the reason she was here. “Oh, by the way I talked to Professor Sprout. She’ll give you your note on being excused from flying lessons on Monday so when they find you in the halls during that lesson time the teachers can’t get mad at you.”

Nico stared at her wide eyed and Horrified “Flying lessons?” he squeaked out

“Yeah it’s one day a week for half a year in first year. But you’re being excused. I explained to Professor sprout that… and yes, I lied so try not to screw up the story too badly. She thinks your mum died in a flying accident and you are too traumatized from watching it happen to ever get on a broom. She’s accepted the excuse as I told her your reaction to seeing me on a broom. She’s going to inform Madam Hooch about your absence too”

Nico nodded. He had a slight tremble in his hands. He was relieved knowing he wasn’t going to have to get on a broom. He smiled, feeling loved by his sister. She ruffled his hair, not that it could get any messier. It was long enough to pull into a stubby half ponytail too, which he was currently sprouting. That was going to be fun when it finally got long enough to pull up in a full stubby tail. 

Sunday saw them flopped out in the grass by Hari’s favorite tree. Hermione, Neville, and Luna even joined her. The twins were sitting with Nico as none of them were doing homework but running ideas for pranks or products. They did food runs rather then moving as a whole to the tables except for dinner as it got too dark to actually be outside. Hari didn’t want to reveal her fire if she could help it to these people. That and she was actually getting cold though her cloak and clothing. Nico was way worse if his cuddling up between the twins said anything. 


	5. Chapter 5

Monday morning was rather eventful as the morning paper was proclaiming Delores Umbridge ‘High Inquisitor’ as an educational reform from the Minister.

Umbridge started inspecting the classes and the teachers that day. All with that annoying toady smile on her face. Before lunch she inspected Flitwick, not that he could get a bad grade being one of the best teachers in school. Hari heard about it from the twins at lunch.

Trelawney was after lunch… it was a disaster. Hari actually felt sorry for the poor woman when faced with the pink toad. Hari didn’t even think much of it when her death was predicted… how Trelawny got that out of a bowl of porridge she wasn’t quite sure but hey, why not?

Defense Against the Dark Arts was duller then a door knob. The entire class was reading Chapter Two when Hermione started arguing with Professor Toady. She was shot down and all of them heard Hari’s head hit the desk. They all looked at her as that was for Professor Binns class not Defence.

Hari didn’t hear the commotion she’d caused in the class as she was standing in her father’s Throne room. He was pacing.

“Father?” she called out. He turned and motioned to the almost complete soul trapped in a gold prison. She’d recognize it anywhere, even if it seemed to be the oddest blend of ages all at once.

“Tom Riddle. He’s the thing Nico sent to my realms two nights ago. It is the same creature I pulled out of your head when you came to me the first time. And in the woman cursed as a snake you sent to me last summer. I’m still missing a piece. Where would it be, Aidonea?”

“The baby thing Wormtail had” Hari said wide eyed. Then looking at the pieces of soul, she had a count of seven, she could see the piece from the diary as the strongest... the piece in her head seemed to be the weakest. “What are they?” she asked

“Soul shards. Horcrux, is the name they were given by mortals” Hades stated then looked above her head “It seems someone is interfering with my message.”

Hari launched awake blinking as she saw her text book with blood on it… she touched her face where the warmth was and drew her hand back seeing blood on her fingers… her nose was bleeding.

“Hari?” Hermione called to her. Hari looked at her confused. Hermione took in a sharp breath. Two others saw her and had the same reaction. “Are you alright?” Dean asked standing up and shoving a handkerchief into her face forcing her still bleeding nose to close.

Hari blinked and Dean seemed really nervous.

“She’s fine, get back to reading the textbook” Professor Umbridge called out.

Dean jolted as the blood went black on her book. Hari blinked… she was frowning… the smoke was coming from her pages… Hari’s eyes went wide and she realized what was going on. She took the handkerchief from Dean and made sure his hands didn’t have her blood on them, he was somehow clean. She then vanished all the blood, even the stuff trying to make her robes smoke. She took off out of the room. She managed to get to a sink and she bleed over it, the porcelain seemingly unaffected by the basilisk venom that had somehow triggered her nose bleed. She pulled on the darkness and forced her nose to stop bleeding. Apparently, her little trip to the Underworld had brought it to the surface. Only her ankle hurt. She pulled up her robes to see two little pinpricks in her sock with blood around the holes.

She returned to the class to find a dead snake under her desk. Hermione screamed when she saw it launching out of her seat and across the room. She was hyperventilating in the corner. Hari picked up the… half a snake now as it seemed something had taken a bite out of it. What might have eaten the other half she didn’t know. She tossed it into the rubbish bin. 

Hari and Hermione were both going to be given detention when Snape entered the class. He interrupted Umbridge. “I’m missing a snake” he stated pissed then loomed over Hari “Potter, where is it?” 

“It’s half a snake now, if it was green. It bit me and something… bit it in half?” she sounded confused. Then he looked at the traces of blood she’d missed

“Bit you?” he raised an eyebrow. “Detention Potter. Tomorrow night at Five. For stealing my snake and getting it killed!”

Hari nodded dumbly. Umbridge was a little too pleased by this reaction to further punish the class, or was too distracted by the thought of Hari in Snape’s detention to punish Hermione, who was still crying in the corner. It was actually Ron who helped Hermione calm down enough to gulp down air. But being who he had for siblings he had a fair amount of personal experience in this sort of thing.

Hari at the end of the day told Nico she wasn’t going to be training with him tomorrow night she was going to be in detention. He wasn’t happy but put up with it already planning to talk to that ghost again.

However, it was the news story the next morning that completely destroyed what little reputation and immediate influence Umbridge had. A lot of her backing was gone in a single article, but it also made her more desperate to regain control.

The headline caused a huge stir in the school.

‘MINISTRY UNDER INQUIREY, 43 MISSING TRIALS’

Hari grabbed the paper from Hermione and was reading it before Hermione even managed to open it. They frowned at her; Neville started reading over her shoulder as did the twins. It was essentially her list of missing trial transcripts. It was learned that in all accuracy, the trials had never happened for various reasons. The many were due to a screw up in the Ministry at the time. Bribes were confirmed in to Cases. The worst was when the past Head of Magical Law Enforcement and the current Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Bartemius Crouch, deeming them guilty without a trial. His reputation and his life were now ruined as he’d also been stated in the article to be stripped of his current position due to the situation.

They gave a list of names of untrialed people. Sirius Black’s was on it. The article at the request of the Department of Law Enforcment also asked that any others that knew more information on the topic to come forward. They also asked that Sirius Black come into the Ministry and they would give him a proper trial. It was also warned that if anyone stood in the way or interfered, they would be arrested.

There was even a short passage about the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, having broken the laws by fabricating and falsifying records to get an underage student of Hogwarts expelled. This also added doubt onto the Ministry. As the trial in question was concluded as guilty as the fore mentioned student never showed. Apparently said student was not in the country for the falsified event or for the trial. The Minister had also called a full Wizengamot trial in a case of underage magic. The reporter wrote it beautifully making it seem like these were mistakes anyone could make, but that these two had been seriously incompetent and seemed to think themselves above there stations. Worse of all, above the ancient laws set down by the greatest witches and wizards in history.

Fudge still had his job but there was a question at the bottom of the article. ‘Do we really trust these men to run our Ministry?’

Hari read the entire paper to find a small article on a suburb in Surrey that had been attacked by rogue Dementors kissing almost half of the locals before they were contained by Aurors. It had happened in early August, but they only just found out about it and the cover up by the Ministry.

“Hari?” George called out to her

She looked at them a little startled “Sorry, I just didn’t expect my list to be published”

“List?” Neville asked

“I went to the Ministry before school to see if I could get Sirius’s trial transcripts. I knew he didn’t get one but I thought they might have forged them. Only they were just missing. I found 42 others with the same issue.” Hari explained “I don’t know who the almost expelled student was though.”

The others didn’t know either. Umbridge wasn’t happy and would have tried to ban the Daily prophet from the school if she didn’t also read it. 

Hari was too distracted to care for charms much. Neville was sitting beside her having issues. Hari absently corrected his wrist and he managed it after the third try. The entire class was staring at him. Hari was not even brothering to pay attention as she was absent mindedly fiddling with her quill, not even her wand.

Transfiguration… that was a special class. Umbridge was there for her inspection. Hari never managed to stop smiling the entire the class. Every time Umbridge attempted to interrupt the class she got sass from Professor McGonagall who gave better then she got. Seeing toady look like she’d been slapped by Professor McGonagall’s retorts was simply amazing.

They left smiling. Hari turned to see Nico yawning as they headed to the hall for lunch. “History?” She asked

He gave her a dirty look. “It’s impossible to stay awake in that class. It’s bad when Mrs. Gottschalk made it sound more interesting” Nico complained “It’s magical history, isn’t it supposed to be more interesting?”

Hermione looked a little peevish. But didn’t say a word.

The fifth years had Care for Magical Creatures next. Nico yawned his way to Transfig.

Hari was waiting with the others and had an arm full of Thestral head when Umbridge arrived to do the inspection. Neville was nervous around toady as she was being a right bitch to Hagrid. She also just made Neville nervous. Neville actually was using a Thestral to hide from her. Not that it actually worked as she apparently couldn’t see them.

However, Hari could tell that Hagrid’s review was not going to go well. The hag knew Hagrid was half giant and just hated him for it. Hermione was muttering dark evil things under her breath.

They got through Herbology. Hari bolted something for dinner and then was off to the dungeons. She stuck her head in the classroom and cringed. “Pickling or disembowelling?” Hari asked looking at the nasty looking somethings on the table.

“Pickling” Snape answered with a gleeful look.

Hari started by picking up what ever was in the bowl then it wiggled making her scream and drop it.

Snape was smirking at her. “Ew” she muttered, she’d rather anything but this, seriously. She didn’t gross out easily but this was just… ew. She was twitchy as all hell when she was finally released, mostly because she’d run out of materials.

Hari returned to the Common room. Nico hadn’t been in the room so she knew he was actually in his dorm tonight. It did happen. That’s when Hermione brought up the tutoring group again. This time poking at a weak point of Hari’s, Voldemort, but it backfired. Hari just got mad at her before going up to bed early. She hadn’t even done her homework they’d gotten that day in class.

Saturday finally came around and Hari walked in on Nico prepping for something. “What are you doing?” She asked confused

“I’m banishing Professor Binns.” Nico stated “I can’t stay awake in his class. I actually like History but ten minutes and I’m talking to Dad!” Nico snapped “If there was a reason for it fine but no… It…”

Hari knelt down and started helping him set the ritual up. She was actually surprised she hadn’t thought of it and it was Nico who started doing it after two weeks.

They did the whole ritual. Hari was expecting the whole missing Professor freak out on Monday morning… only it took till her class on Tuesday to watch him fade. It actually took three days for it to fully work as he just refused to fade. Watching the mass panic in the staff to find a new History professor was actually kind of funny.

By the time the first Hogsmeade weekend came up they finally had a witch by the name of Isabella Sterling to teach History. To find out she actually knew history from the last hundred years was exciting. She also actually able to teach with only one- or two-people’s heads hitting the desk. The fact she was really pretty also helped keep the boys awake, even if they weren’t actually listening. Even Toady couldn’t argue about her credentials. Hari absently noted her eyes seemed to be a very familiar stormy grey.

Nico was the one to figure out were they knew the eyes from. Annabeth. Their History of Magic Professor was a Daughter of Athena.

Hogsmeade weekend arrived and Nico was pouting at her because he wanted to go too but she wasn’t allowed to take him. She promised to bring him back sweets. Hermione was taking her to something. They went past the usual haunts into a dingy pub called the Hogs Head. They bought butterbeers and Hari wasn’t too happy that Ron was with them… they still weren’t friends even if he was on the Quidditch team now. Hari was refusing to talk to him as much as possible.

Hari wasn’t even bothered by the mess and sat down drinking her old and dusty butterbeer. Hermione and Ron cringed sitting at the table beside hers… that was odd but she was thinking about the lack of news to do with the trials for those that didn’t get them. Sirius and Remus had yet to write her anything. That’s when people started arriving. She blinked.

She understood Neville when he came in, He’d need all the help he could get, even with his new wand. He sat down beside her. Dean and Seamus, she could also understand, they sat beside Ron and Hermione. But it was Lavender that confused her. Why was she here? With the Patil twins who took up an adjacent table. Were they expecting more people or something? Then Cedric, Cho, and a friend of hers arrived. Luna dropped into a seat right beside Hari and Neville when Hari wasn’t paying attention. Cho wanted to sit at a different table but Cedric took a seat at Hari’s table causing Cho to glare at Hari. Cedric was nervously blushing as he sat down. Mostly because he knew his choice of seat would annoy his girlfriend. Cho and her friend sat at a different table. 

Hari was looking at Hermione seriously confused when Katie, Alicia, and Angelina came in followed by more people then she seriously thought even talked to her… Ginny came in with the next group. George, Fred, and Lee followed up at the end. Calling for a round of butterbeers then taking the remaining seats at Hari’s table. 

“Hermione? What’s going on?” Hari hissed at her across the small gap.

“Our Study group. The idea was quite popular.”

Hari looked at the ‘study group’ Hermione had gotten in her head to start. Hari however was shocked when Hermione told them all that Hari was supposed to teach it. Hari clenched her fists.

“No” Hari stated standing up. She looked down at Hermione Unimpressed, her eyes burning like fire, but had not gone black “You said a couple. I said I would think about it. This is beyond even you” Hari said “I’m not doing it. Don’t ask me again” Hari said and walked out. Neville stood up and chased after Hari. Luna seemed to dreamily wander out behind them.

The twins looked seriously unimpressed by Hermione. “You didn’t tell her you had spread it too a bunch of us?” George asked

“She would never have come with me if I had” Hermione argued

“I can understand why” Fred stated leaving and catching up with the small group. Lee was right on their heels.

The others looked seriously confused. They had been told they would be talking about a study group but apparently Hermione, the whole idea creator, hadn’t confirmed the cooperation of the one that was supposed to teach them.

Cedric running out hoping to catch up with Hari. Cho called him back but he didn’t even glance at her, which made Cho cross her arms in a huff.

“Not cool, Granger” Ernie Macmillan said seriously annoyed standing up.

“I’ll teach then. I’ve got the best grades otherwise” Hermione stated calm, cool, and with authority.

No one else moved as Ernie sat back down.

“We’re listening”

Hermione went off about how she’d teach them. She’d already made a paper for a sign-up sheet. To make it all official. They were all stupidly convinced to sign it. But one. Dean walked out. He was done. Seamus glared at him but signed his name saying that Dean was an idiot for not joining them.

Hari went to Honeydukes. The twins caught up with her there. Neville and Luna were standing with her as she was picking out a collection of sweets for Nico.

“So, Hermione told us you knew what was going on.” George stated

Hari sighed as Cedric came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder lightly “Are you alright?” he asked forcibly turning her to look her in the eyes. They weren’t burning anymore. She was looking so… acquiescing. But she was angry, understandably. 

Hari twitched “I’m pissed and I’m feeling seriously betrayed right now.” She stated

Cedric nodded “I completely understand that”

She looked at him then behind him “I think you’re missing a girlfriend” she stated then waved as Dean was coming up looking pissed but bypassed them in a huff. She’d talk to him later if she got the chance. She went shopping a little more and getting more chocolate then she could probably eat… Nico was a different story though. The small group shopped with her. Cedric was now looking for an apology gift.

“Well, if you need someone to practice with or complain at, just say something” Cedric offered smiling

Hari smiled at him “Thanks” She muttered looking at the floor then looked him in the eye “Thanks for looking out for Nico by the way”

Cedric smiled, “It’s not very hard. He’s pretty independent, and he likes sleep”

Hari smiled and they could see the tension leaving her. She finished her tasks and then bought everything. The twins and Lee wandered off to go raid Zonko’s. Neville was walking with Luna to the stationary shop, both of them needed quills. Neville lost his or broke them all and Luna’s apparently got stolen by Nargles, whatever those were. Cedric went to go find Cho to apologize for leaving her behind.

Hari returned to the castle and found Nico in the library with Meg reading, she looked over to find it was ancient Greek death rituals. Meg was reading her herbology text book. Hari sat down with them and sneakily gave them a little bit of chocolate. Meg sort of loved her for it. Nico was jittering in his seat twenty minutes later which prompted them to go tumble and run around the field. Getting Meg to do a hand stand was fun, Hari had to hold her ankles as she wanted to see if she could walk on her hands. Nico didn’t need to be held; he was too hyper to stop walking on his hands. 


	6. Chapter 6

Malfoy was making fun of a ward in St Mungo. A ward about brain muddling Magic but it was the look of Murder on Neville’s face that triggered something in her brain. Neville punched Malfoy in the face and Hari hexed Crabbe and Goyle before they could touch him. Then Snape walked out into the corridor too.

“Potter, Longbottom. Detention!”

They both looked completely unapologetic as they were forced to sit in the front of the class as far from Malfoy as possible. That’s when Snape brought Umbridge to everyone’s attention. Hari was grumbling in class; Snape was getting his review from the pink toad.

Toady sat in the corner for a time before she started wandering around talking to a few people as they were brewing. Snape it seemed regretted her presence once she started her invasive questions. Even asking why he didn’t have the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.

Hari snapped “He obviously knows more about the subject then you do” Hari stated, a little too loud.

Snape raised an eyebrow. She gave a cringing smile “What should I prepare for my detention?” Hari asked almost pitiful, she’d just made him look bad… she’d just gotten them a worst fate then what they expected from punching his godson… again.

“Dragon hid gloves” Snape stated smirking “Longbottom too”

“For the cold or the protection?” Hari asked nervous now

“I’ll let you guess”

Hari gave a little whimper. Neville gave a more pitiful one beside her.

Snape smiled, that sadistic smile he always gave her. At least Snape hadn’t changed in that sense. However, his mood soured almost instantly as his review continued.

At lunch Hari had to inform Angelina that she was missing training as she’d landed herself in detention with Snape due to hexing Crabbe and Goyle. She was not happy but let her off, as the Seeker wasn’t really all that important with Hari’s skill in the air. Also, they all Hated Malfoy making it was all good, so long as it wasn’t game week.

Hari managed to get through Lunch. She frowned as Nico wasn’t greeting her, he actually looked unusually pissed off for some reason. He ever had the shadows reaching out towards him more then normal… and the ghosts avoiding him. 

Cedric informed her quietly about the issue as she was leaving. Nico got detention. Apparently if what Professor Sprout was ranting about, Nico hadn’t been able to sit still in class and had started asking questions in class. He’d accidently asked one that Umbridge refused to answer because it triggered something in the toad. He had detention at the same time she did.

Hari and Neville bolted down dinner. Nico, she spotted was doing the same time. Hari caught him before he could head to class. “I’ll see you in the usual spot after our detentions. I’ll wait all night if you do”

Nico nodded looking seriously pissed off. 

Hari and Neville had their gloves and looked at the … “What are these?” Hari asked

Neville was smiling he said something and Hari just looked at him “Bless you?” she said

Neville laughed but then showed her how the plant worked and what to do. The gloves were a must in this case. It burned when she splattered her wrist with a little bit of the innards. She used the shadows to heal her wrist before Snape noticed.

It was late when they finally got out of detention. Neville walked with her to the seventh floor, before she veered off and told him she’d see him in the morning. Neville didn’t argue as he could get into the common room by himself.

Hari waited until midnight when Nico came into the room crying. He told her everything even showing her his hand, reddened words were marked in his skin, they were quite literally carving themselves into his hand. Hari was pissed to say the least. She didn’t make Nico go to his dorm. They ended up sleeping in the room in their grassy field under the stars.

The next morning, Nico went down to his dorm to get dressed in fresh clothes. He was in the Great Hall before her. He didn’t know Hari was double checking something in the library before she arrived.

The school watched as Hari walked down the center of the Great Hall not going to the Gryffindor table. Hari’s hair was loose, which was really odd for her. Nico was frowning as the shadows seemed to be moving with her adding something to her. Her circlet made itself known on her brow. Her eyes were glowing with green fire. She had that dark smile on her face, one their Father got from time to time. Hari stopping in front of the High table. All the staff was sitting there looking at her confused.

“I, Harriet Lilian Potter, claim a wrong done to my Blood by Delores Jane Umbridge and announce a Blood Feud against her” Hari yelled loud and clear. A pin could drop and be heard outside the Great Hall. 

Draco reacts first “What the Hell Potter? I don’t want to Take your Side!” He yelled then beat his head on the table.

“Wait! Does this mean I don’t have to go to her class?” Nico asked excited.

“Yes” Hari answered him

“What would a Blood Feud with Umbridge have to Mr. di Angelo?” Professor Sinistra asked

“He’s my Half brother. We share a father.” Hari stated unamused though the reactions from the Hall were loud and noisy. Dumbledore was looking at her shocked and stunned then looking at Nico. McGonagall seemed to clue into something first and smiled almost unnoticeable. Snape looked at her seriously confused. Sprout nodded having know already.

The entire Hall was quickly spinning themselves in circles as this meant that Hari’s shared parent while male had to still be alive… but only Hari’s eyes matched Lily’s… did that mean James was the shared parent? … but he was dead and Nico was too young for that to match up right.

Hari turned on her heel and joined her House at the table. Nico was smirking and jittering in his seat itching to move as all demi-gods did. Hari however leaned forward as she sat down. “Why does Malfoy have to side with me?” She asked quietly

Neville blinked at her “You didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?”

Neville passed her the Daily Prophet. On the front page, Sirius Black was announced Innocent of all charges on the front of the paper, farther destroying Fudge’s reputation due to his negligence to actually look into Black’s file during his break out two years ago. It was also at the bottom of the page that announced his Goddaughter, remained Un-named to the public, as his heir and the next Head of the Black House should he pass without children.

Hari looked up to see George offering her a handkerchief. She blinked at it. “You’re crying” He stated smiling

“Glad he got off though” Fred said grinning

“Huh?” Neville and the others all asked

Hari laughed wiping her eyes. “Sirius Black is my godfather. I found out in Third year when he escaped. He was after my parent’s killer not me as everyone thought.” Hari explained laughing and crying.

“Wait, You’re the next Lady Black!” Lavender yelled so loud in her shock that the Hall quieted again.

“Well that explains why Malfoy sided with you. He’s technically a Black through his mother. So, by blood he has to show you loyalty” Hermione said almost excited

“I’m still mad at you” Hari stated looking at Hermione annoyed.

Hermione blushed and shut up. Ron was glaring at her from down the table a bit.

Her announcement of a Blood Feud passed through the Purebloods like wild fire. It was odd how quickly Umbridge’s control and influence crashed, her classes had an even lower attendance rate then the entire history of the Hogwarts. The Malfoys, The Blacks, The Weasleys, The Longbottoms, The Zabini and The Greengrass all announced their support for Hari. They were then supported by other families owed allegiance to those families. 

The three days after the Blood Feud was announce the Twins couldn’t take it anymore. They cornered Hari in an empty area. They got her trapped in an alcove. Using their superior height and bulk to block her escapes.

“Okay, Spill it. We know your uncle is an Evans.”

“Was that a lie? Because unless you were birthed by James Potter...”

“And the green eyes are a weird recessive trait… well… nothing works.”

“As you look like James potter, everyone says it.”

“So, what the hell?”

The twins were ranting so close together it was really hard for her to distinguish one speaking from the other.

Hari gave them the deadest look they had seen to date. “James Potter was my mother and Snape is the Father to both of us.”

The twins knew she was bullshitting them… but it was just too good. It was floating through the school in a matter of days. Three children were tacked on by the end of the week. There were thirty secret children by the end of the month. One was even older then Hari having graduated already, supported by Snape by being the youngest Potion’s Master in history.

Hari when she heard that one was smacking her head on the table. She wasn’t supposed to hear it but she did. Nico was finding this absolutely Hilarious. Hari however noticed that Nico was crashing at different times then normal, she’d been regulating out his sugar intake… that’s when it became know to her.

Hari just about strangled the twins. They had been bribing Nico with candy to call Snape Dad and other such words. She was holding her head horrified as it had blown up like this. Nico was in a sugar coma curled up beside her in their grassy field. Why did she have to tell them that of all things?!

She only knew where the extra candy was coming from because Nico had walked up to the twins at lunch after his potions lesson and demanded his candy. Snape came in extremely pale and twitchy muttering “Daddy?” confused. 

While that chaos was happening, Hari had taken to giving Defense lessons to a double handful of people. She was giving lessons to Neville, Cedric, the twins, and Lee. Dean was a part of it because he asked, Blaise bugged her for the lessons with another Slytherin girl, Daphne she was reminded as she was in their year. Luna wheedled her way into lessons as did Susan, Nico had vouched for Susan so she agreed to it.

They were all working at different schedules. It got to the point they managed to make it to a single meeting once a week on random days. Umbridge couldn’t do anything because of the Blood Feud and Hari controlling the lessons. Even if she’d banned the forming of such groups for the rest of the students. That had started a whole different war in the school.

Hermione finally admitted to Hari she was wrong and that the stunt she pulled in the Hog’s Head was wrong. But that she’d let Hari copy off her notes if she would help her pass her Defense O.W.L. Hari didn’t know there was another thing going on with that begging.

Hari agreed to it. Private lessons only. Hari was done after three of these lessons as Hermione’s old habit of getting on her high horse kicked in and Hari was just done with it all. She started talking to Hari about teaching others with her. Even going off about Hari needing to do it. For the good of the whole.

Hermione was stunned when Hari blatantly looked her in the eye, her eyes blacker then obsidian “We are Done” Hari announced “I’m done with you. If you mention me starting that damn group again and I will never speak to you outside of it being absolutely required. Do you understand me?” Hari said walking out of the classroom. Hari hadn’t even showed Hermione the Room of Requirement, they had been using a spare classroom.

The rest of the girls in their dorm didn’t say anything as Hari was ignoring that Hermione was even there. Seeing Hari ignore the world wasn’t unusual for them but for her to blatantly ignore Hermione trying to talk to her or apologize… well that was painful to watch. Mostly because Hermione was just pathetic.

Hari’s first Quidditch match happened while her and Hermione weren’t talking. Nico was not in the bleachers. Nico instead was in his dorm room burrowed in his bed. He’d been seriously distressed as the usual pregame tensions were flying around the school. Nico was looking at her horrified as she was just countering all the comments and rude gestures with practised ease.

“Is this really a game?” He’d asked one night during training that had Neville added in, Nico had agreed to it, in more ways then one.

Hari laughed “Yes, but it’s one of the only things that gets exciting around school. So, the rivalries sort of just get more noticeable. Slytherin and Gryffindor are the worst though pregame. I think it’s why we’re the first one.” Hari explained

When the game finally happened. Hari was seriously glad Nico wasn’t there. He was clutching his Hades figure Bianca had gotten for him praying to their father. She was sure if he saw how it ended Crabbe would be meeting their father through a fissure in the ground matching the one, she’d seen at the dining pavilion. Hari had caught the snitch; Ron was so bad at keeping the quaffle out that the twins were never going to admit he was related to them.

Hari had managed to catch the snitch seconds before Malfoy. Only when she lifted it into the air, she was knocked off her broom. A bludger hit her in the lower back sending her forward off her broom. Hari hit the grass lucky she’d only been a few feet from the ground. She stared at the sky winded from the hit and the landing.

She blinked to see Angelina’s face as she offered her a hand up. Hari grunted as she used the older girl to stand up.

Malfoy was trying to get a rise out of their team by going off about the Weasley family, it had been fine when it was Ron but Malfoy insulted Molly and then Arthur.

Hari gave him a look. Malfoy turned white and shut his mouth, but it was too late. To see Hari and George flying at him and ready not for magic but a full-on Muggle beat down. No one seemed to notice the air get colder, the frost turning to ice on the field.

When they were flung back separating them from the thrashed and beaten Malfoy, the grass under her hand turned yellow and her eyes were black. Hari’s eyes slowly turned back to green as she was seething.

The Slytherin team seemed to lose their scowls and anger as it turned to fear. To say that Malfoy was officially terrified of Hari was an underestimate by the time Hari and George were done with him.

Hari and George were marched to McGonagall’s office and then with Fred were kicked off the Quidditch team. The single thing that could be done when Umbridge had threatened to eliminate the team entirely or just the three players. Gryffindor could not risk losing the entire team in one shot.

Hari was absolutely fuming as she was sitting in the hospital wing… again. Madame Pomfrey was getting mad at her, but cleared her for a lack of injuries, just a very good bruise. Nico came running into the hospital wing just as she was about to leave. He latched on to her.

Cedric was blushing, “I told him what happened” he said as Hari had an arm full of Nico.

She smiled at him “Thanks” she said then hugged Nico who was shaking. “I’m fine, just a little bruised” Hari told Nico.

Nico wasn’t letting go however. She laughed and stood up. Walking with him clinging to her was difficult but doable.

However, Cedric asked “What happened to make Umbridge so Happy?”

“She got me banned from Quidditch for Life.” Hari stated grumbling. “As a school authority she’d able to do that even with the Blood Feud in place.”

Cedric stopped and Stared “She Did WHAT?” Cedric caused her to look at him wide eyed at the outburst.

Nico looked equally surprised.

“She banned me from Quidditch” Hari repeated stunned

To watch the Hufflepuff Captain slump and look depressed “I wanted to beat you my last Match!” he whined

Hari blinked then started laughing. Cedric was pouting that he couldn’t play against her in his last year.

“Well I guess we’re just going to have to go Professional and play each other” Hari said grinning

Cedric looked at her confused “She has no right over me after school” Hari said smirking “and what team wouldn’t want a Seeker that can’t lose if there’s no interference”

Cedric laughed as they walked. It was completely accurate to say the least.

Hari was a little surprised to see Blaise and Daphne waiting for them in the Entrance Hall. “You alright?” Blaise asked looking nervous

“Well I’m not playing Quidditch again this year” Hari said smiling, though they could all tell for all she was acting happy, she was actually pissed. Nico was frowning and not happy beside her. Even Cedric was unimpressed

“So next meeting?”

Hari sighed “One less Quidditch practice to dance around” Hari muttered “But let’s go with tomorrow night”

The others nodded. Hari managed to get Nico to release her to eat lunch at his own table as she sat cringing at her own table. She was sore. That’s when the twins slumped on either side of her. They hadn’t told Angelina yet. That evening however she found out.

She had to hold emergency tryouts the next week to replace them. She was pissed at them, but she was equally pissed off at Umbridge.

Nico managed to watch the Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw match with her. Nico was twitching and just wasn’t doing to well. It was almost funny. He was almost in her lap after the hour match. Hufflepuff won. It was rather glorious to watch. Apparently, the Seeker couple were too competitive to not fight for their house and they both wanted to win.

Hari was giggling a little as she’d gotten to put Nico’s hair up in an almost ponytail. Nico wasn’t even bothered but his hair being half up and the rest was tickling his neck. Hers was just in a ponytail with all the freaking curls. The half tail was sort of in her face as Nico’s head was right there. He wasn’t blocking her view but he was doing a good job at trying with his eyes covered by his hands.

They were into December now and Nico was staring out the window in awe. Apparently, he’d never seen snow quite like this before. The snowball fight that happened on the last weekend before break was great. Nico was laughing and breathless by the time they were cold and exhausted. Gloria was chasing snowballs and just having fun like Nico till they went inside to warm up in the kitchens.

That night however all hell broke loose. Hari felt Nico’s hand tugging on her shirt. They were both in their matching pajamas and there in front of them was a ritual. Hari lost all colour in her face as she realized what was stepping out of the cauldron.

“Voldemort” Hari said stunned

The Death eaters didn’t seem capable of seeing them. Or so they though until the Monster turned and fired a spell at them.

Hari bolted upright from her nightmare in a cold sweat. She hadn’t even fully realized she was awake when Nico was suddenly sobbing in her arms. She wrapped her little brother in her arms. Humming a tune their father got stuck in their heads, regularly. They both stop shaking as Hari was still borderline panicking when Nico landed on her.

They finally calmed down. She wasn’t about to force Nico out of her dorm room. Nico passed out sniffling into her side as they cuddled. Hari said a prayer to guard his sleep. She settled into the bed getting her blanket over him. She fell asleep again with him lightly snoring in her ear.

The reaction the next morning was mildly entertaining.

“How did a boy get in here?” Lavender demanded shrilly

Nico curled up more under the blankets and Hari grumbled curling up around him.

“Hari, is that Nico?” Hermione asked

“Yes” Came the unhappy grumble she wanted sleep and they were being Noisy.

The girls had a little freak out forcing Hari to sit up. Nico was muttering under his breath in almost matching Pjs as her. Hari finally woke up enough to call Dobby to bring Nico his robes and a full change of clothes. Nico grumbled as he got dressed in the bathroom, mostly due to the girls not wanting him changing in the room.

“He’s eleven. He doesn’t even like girls” Hari said yawning and pulling on her own clothing, her robes tossed on the bed to pull on in a bit.

Nico came out of the bathroom and Hari walked with him to the common room. She left him with the twins for the five minutes it took to get her robes on and her school bag. She walked down to see the twins yawning with Nico curled up between them. They got to the Great Hall and Nico wasn’t willing to let her go far from him.

Nico was curled up on the bench with his head in her lap hugging her at the Gryffindor table. The silver skull ring on his hand matched the pendent around her neck. If they hadn’t known they were siblings at that point the matching pieces and him clinging to her would have forced it to settle in.


	7. Chapter 7

When the holidays finally came around and McGonagall was going around to mark who was staying for holidays. Hari was happy, she wasn’t on the list this year. With Sirius free and Her father telling them they were coming back for their holidays she knew she wasn’t staying.

Hermione mentioned she was going skiing with her family. She more said it so Hari knew not to expect her in the common room this holiday. When the time came Hari and Nico were on the train heading home. Hari felt odd no longer thinking of Hogwarts as home. It occurred to her that she’d never taken the train during winter holidays before. Not in four years. Nico was still extra clingy. Hari suspected he would be until they reached the Underworld. 

Hari was staring out the window with Nico’s head in her lap as Neville and Luna were in the compartment with them. The twins stuck their heads in on the occasion. On one of the last ones she told the twins to owl Sirius, if they needed a place away from their mother. Hari dropped a hint that they would seriously enjoy their time with him as Remus was guaranteed to be there too. They seemed interested and nodded, stating they’d owl her too just in case. 

They arrived in London. They grabbed their gear and Hari lit up seeing Sirius on the platform waiting for her in human form. She ran up and hugged him getting lifted into the air. She was laughing and crying. Sirius wasn’t much better. Remus stepped up to help Nico with his trunk.

“Father!”

Hari looked to the left at Nico’s voice. She also spotted their father standing there waiting. He was wearing not biker gear but leather pants and a ripped skull shirt with a long black trench coat over top. His hair was loose matching Hari and Nico’s messy mops that they called hair though straight like Nico’s.

Nico got the first hug which made the God smile softly. Hari hugged them both squishing Nico between them. Molly came up to them hoping to interfere however the twins bowed to the man. “Honoured” they said in unison

Hades raised an eyebrow.

“Fred and George Weasley. They’re friends” Hari informed him

“They’re awesome” Nico stated grinning

“Pranksters Extraordinaire” The twins said in unison.

Hades got a smirk on his face. “We’ll have to talk”

“You will not!” Molly yelled

The twins looked like they had swallowed lemons as Ron looked positively pleased.

“You know Molly, I think we’ll be taking the twins this Christmas. You have enough on your plate with Percy” Remus stated unhappily but put his hands on the twins’ shoulders. Molly looked like she wanted to argue but she also looked a little scared. 

“I’ve got the car if you need a lift” Hades stated “I think we can delay a day before you two come home” he said looking at his children.

“Thanks” Hari said

The twins visibly relaxed and agreed.

Molly wasn’t impressed but the twins and the Hades siblings were scooped by the three male adults before much could happen with her. Sirius and Remus apparated ahead with the trunks as Hades got the kids and the animals into his car. Hari was sitting in the front seat as the twins were on either side of Nico, and he actually seemed perfectly happy about that.

They arrived at the house, Hades parking in front as he was allowed. They all entered the house. Hari and Nico showed the twins a room they could sleep in. The house was a decent size that they didn’t have to share but the room they could share was big enough for both of them and two more people if they wanted to share farther.

Downstairs Nico was giggling as Hades and Sirius were arguing over visitation rights with Hari.

“She is My daughter!” Hades yelled

“She’s My goddaughter!” Sirius yelled

“I’m an uncle” Remus said staying out of the actual argument.

Nico was sitting on the stairs and Hari sat down beside him. The twins sat behind them and leaned forward. “Okay, time for you to actually explain” George stated

“Yeah, who is Aidoneus Evans?” Fred asked

“Well technically he’s called Hades… Aidoneus is just one of his names…” Hari said cringing

“We talking Lord of the Underworld Hades?” George asked

Nico and Hari nodded

“Wait. You are both children of the God of the Underworld?” The twins asked in unison.

“Yes, they are” Hades said stepping into the hall. “You didn’t tell them?”

“Tell them what? That I was stolen from my crib in the Underworld and gifted to the people everyone calls my parents? By who knows who?” Hari asked

Hades blinked and conceded the point. “I’ll concede that”

“What, crib?

“Underworld?”

“Are you saying Hari isn’t actually of Lily or James?” Remus asked frowning

“No. She’s My Daughter that’s been proven multiple times” Hades stated

“Well, it definitely explained the resemblance” the twins said

“So, Christmas. You alright with me and Nico spending it here? Like the week around it. Say the 21 to the 26th?” Hari asked derailing the conversation

“Yes, the Solstice to your holiday is fine. I have to deal with my brothers for the Solstice anyway. No need for you to suffer that stupidity.” Hades stated annoyed.

“Does that mean we’re going home till then?” Nico asked

Hades nodded

“Yes” The two royal born children cheered

Hades shook his head. “Come on pups” he said amused

“Not cats today?” Hari asked grinning

“No, but you’re going to be a bit shocked when you see Max” Hades stated

Hari looked at him wide eyed with a grin forming on her lips “No” she said excitement rippling off her

Hades smirked “Yes. He’s gotten massive”

“Why don’t I have one?” Nico asked pouting

“Give it another year, then maybe we can get you a match. I have a feeling you’re going to want a Spot pup.”

“Yes” Nico said excited

“Again, next year. All the current ones are too grown to bond”

“Spot?”

“Cerberus” Hari said smiling

They drained of colour “Oh”

“Max is the same size as his Dad” Hades added

Hari whipped around to look at him utterly delighted.

“Yes, I bought a bunch of red balls for you to play with them” Hades said with a smile shaking his head.

The Hades kids cheered

“I Call Spot!” Nico yelled running up the stairs to grab his trunk… well more like a bag with what he wanted for the Underworld.

“Max is mine” Hari stated chasing after him doing the same thing.

They were back down in ten minutes ready to go “I’m leaving Hedwig here. Use her to run any messages you need” Hari said bouncing on her heels.

“What was this about waiting a day?” Sirius said

Hari looked so depressed at the though of not leaving now.

“We’ll see you on the 21st. Got it, pup?” Remus said

Hades nodded and the two cheered up. They raced out of the house. Hades walked out and they were already getting into the car when he reached the driver’s side door. He drove them to the Underworld and the two of them greeted Persephone as she was playing in her garden. They then raced past her to drop their bags.

“Excited, aren’t they?” She said looking at her Husband.

“They’ve been trapped in a castle all fall. Of course, they’re excited.”

The two demi-gods skidded back wearing proper attire for the Underworld and their weapons. “Dinner then you are free” Hades said

The two grinned and beat the adults to the dining room. They ate what they wanted. Pomegranates were a must, as both had been looking ill. Like something was draining them… Maybe the pomegranates had bound them to the Underworld more then he’d thought. Until Hari started complaining about the school and the nasty Pink Toad woman that was teaching them.

Nico darkened in a way neither God had ever seen or felt from him. “She’s so lucky the wound healed and never scarred” Nico stated

“If she even thinks of Touching you again, I’m roasting her ass. Or maybe we can just gift her to the Furies” Hari stated between bites.

“Fury gift” Nico said

They finished eating then they were off. Hari at least managed to kiss their father’s cheek before running off after her brother. Hades found them hours later sleeping on Cerberus’s back as he guarded the gates.

He shook his head gathering his children and putting them in the same bed, he was too lazy to put them in sperate rooms knowing they’d end up in the same room anyway. 

The two demi-gods took to taking lessons on their powers while wandering the Underworld. Hari and Nico had even taken out their shadow horses riding. They would arrive for meals, sometimes for bed and almost always to change clothes and wash up. They hadn’t learned the trick of riding Hellhounds however which he took as a positive note… for now anyway. It was going to happen one of these days.

Hades knew they were sending souls back to Tartarus when they escaped or sending them flying back into the Fields of Punishment. Hari liked to blast them away from her with fire and then send them burnt to Tartarus. Nico just liked shoving the perceived door closed on them as they tried to sneak out. The souls don’t like how there are three of them suddenly wandering the Underworld.

During a lesson, Hari was reminded of something that she was nudged to teach Nico. Nico was sitting on Hari’s bed. Hari was ripping her room apart looking for something when she tossed a yellow box on the bed with a sun on the back of it. “Is this a game?”

“Yeah, Apollo gave it to me last year, I’ve played it for about two months. I never have time anymore, go ahead” Hari said now just throwing things out of her chest at the end of her bed. Nico was pressing buttons and grinning at the hand-held game as Hari finally found what she was looking for. He stared at her seeing the small leather bag “It’s a … what?”

“A bag of dragon teeth” Hari said grinning and handing it over “Dad reminded me of them last night.”

“Can I keep this?” Nico asked holding up the game

“Sure, have fun” she said not bothered “But Spartoi warrior summoning tonight for practice” she said smiling

“What?”

“Human warriors with the strength of dragon” Hari said “You bury a dragon tooth in grave dirt with some blood and they pop up like daises.” 

Nico remembered them once they were done, these were what caused him to destroy the pavilion floor ... this one he could control at least.

Apollo was sitting at the table when they came in for dinner two days before they returned to the surface. Only the two Gods were in a horrible mood. Persephone was currently dragging her mother around the garden. 

“What went wrong?” Hari asked pulling out a chair sitting down. Nico was right beside her intrigued.

“I got a prophecy last night; well it’s latched on to you Cuz” Apollo stated “It’s a crap self forthfilling one and it’s ... well nasty. But it seems it latched on you 14 years ago. We were thinking it might have been why you were stolen.”

“Can I hear it?”

“Sure. Warning: it’s from the Trelawney family they always give really poor ones. Like repeating lines and stuff. Theirs are always a crapshoot”

They all watched her drain of what little colour she had at the name “Are we talking Sybill Trelawney?”

“You know her?” Hades asked

Hari groaned going limp against her chair. “Yes” came the whine. “She teaches my Divination class. Alright I’ve been prewarned, spill it. She’s always giving crappy confusing ones”

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…” Apollo stated “Fuck, if I know”

Hari muddled it over… “So most likely talking the last couple days of July. Parents thrice defied… yeah, mark them as equal… How would he mark though… Unless they mean a physical mark… Power he knows not ...That’s not very hard… one has to die or they’ll spend their whole lives trying to kill or not be killed so living really isn’t an option... and then a repeat of the hero’s birth.” 

“What does that mean to you?” Nico asked

“Well my adoptive parents fought against the Dark Lord in the Prophecy and defied him three times, the third being their deaths instead of them submitting to him. I was born on the last day of July. But Neville’s a day older then me and it could very well have been him if Remus and Sirius weren’t messing with me. But the Dark Lord marked me,” She shifted her hair to show the faded lightning bolt on her forehead. “A scar when he tried to kill me, my adoptive mother managed to invoke the protection of three, so that kept me alive and made his spell backfire. And power he knows not could be anything from emotions to sanity to me being a demi-god and him being … well a wizard. And he’s been trying to kill me since I was eleven so I’m surviving more then living so I guess He’s going to have to die” Hari stated not at all worried.

“I’ll help” Nico announced grinning Rather evilly. “I’m not losing another sister” he said darkly. 

“Alright. But if he hurts you, I’m roasting his ass alive and then giving him to the Furies to play with” Hari stated

The Gods smiled; she was taking this rather well actually. But if she was able to figure it out mostly already, they predicted she knew something was up a while ago, now she just had a reason for the human stupidity.

Hades took them back to the house in London and they walked into complete chaos. There was a full-on prank war going on between the twins and the two Marauders. The three of them ducked the paint balloon that was shot out of an umbrella stand in the entrance to the parlor.

“On that note, I’ve got to head to Olympus” Hades said then vanished.

Hari and Nico slipped upstairs dodging the traps and all the other things in the house. Hari and Nico then slipped into the kitchen. Hari was baking as Nico was playing the game. Something about winning the next gym battle and making his Charmeleon stronger. Hari had close to seven dozen cookies cooling. She was in love with the magic ovens. As she had another four dozen in the oven.

The ‘adults’ and the twins came down laughing as she was still baking. Keacher and Winky had managed to make dinner for everyone. Hari smacked Sirius’s hand away from her cookies. “They’re for Christmas”

He smiled as he sat down. Envious of whomever the cookies were for.

“So, Hari. You didn’t say that Professor Lupin, Sirius Black or your DAD were Marauders” George said grinning

Hari smiled “And Ruin the surprise?” she said teasingly

“When did you find out?” Fred asked

“Near the end of third year” Hari stated “Remus and Sirius let it slip” 

“So? Which one was your Dad?” George asked “They keep telling us to guess”

Hari sat down to eat. “Well it’s pretty easy once you know their Animagus forms”

They waited for her to keep going.

Hari laughed and explained through bites of dinner “Remus is a werewolf, so his is pretty obvious. Sirius is a dog. Again, pretty obvious. My adoptive dad was a Stag, hence my Patronus. And the last was a traitor who was a rat”

“Wormtail is the rat” George stated “Easy. Moony is Professor Lupin?”

Hari nodded

“Prongs would sound like something we’d come up for a stag due to the antlers.” Fred stated grinning

“Meaning Sirius is Padfoot” George finished

The adults smiled “That was quick” Sirius said amused.

The door opened upstairs. “Oh good, he arrived”

“Who arrived?” Hari asked

“Bill. We asked and Sirius let him bring his new girl for Christmas” Fred stated

“None of us wanted to deal with mum” George finished

The oldest Weasley came in with Fleur and Hari waved with a mouth full of food.

“Grab a plate” Sirius said smiling

They did and found seats.

Nico was talking animatedly with Bill as Fleur was talking with Hari like they had always been friends.

Christmas finally came around. The twins actually crashed into Hari’s room that morning and frowned as Hari was still in bed and it was getting pretty late. She hadn’t even opened her presents yet… like really girl?

They dragged her yawning butt out of bed and downstairs. Nico, they watched yawn over Bill’s shoulder as he was carried into the kitchen like a sack of potatoes. 

They feed and caffeinated the two siblings. This seemed to bring them back from the dead. They ate and then went back upstairs to open their present and dress as amusing as the matching pajamas were. Nico came to her room as she was mostly done opening her gifts. She was holding a crystal Rose. She was blushing as it came from Blaise of all people. She wouldn’t admit to having sent him a charmed Celestial bronze bracelet with a protection spell on it. Hari looked delighted as she opened the last box and found a gorgeous leather jacket in it. Nico was already wearing a similar one but definitely fitted for a guy with skull buttons on it. They knew these were both Hades gifts.

Nico was seriously excited for the freaking Tent Hari gave him. She’d had it for two months and hadn’t told him he was getting it.

Dinner conversation was mostly about the Joke shop the twins wanted to open. They were shocked that Professor Lupin was one of the better ones for giving ideas. Sirius also commented about becoming a backer for their budding company. Even helping them look into leases and what sort of things to look for.

They all spent most of the day pouring over the products and even helping them fix a few of their issues with them they hadn’t thought to try. Fleur even said a few things on the topic. She wasn’t even bothered they were doing the experiments. She was actually quite impressed in all honesty.

Though Hari wasn’t expecting the letter that arrived in beautiful cursive. Sirius looked at it and even checked for hexes and everything then let her open it. It was a Thank-you letter from Narcissa Malfoy for the cookies Hari had sent over. Apparently, she told Hari that her son and Husband spent _Four Hours_ checking for poison, food-based curses, hexes, and jinxes. Along with anything else they though she might have done to them. Narcissa stated they were very good and was wondering if she’d part with the recipe.

Hari giggled, she actually went and snagged a piece of parchment to write down the recipe. Hedwig had been happy to deliver it.

She’d sent out about ten dozen cookies as Christmas gifts to a few select people. A dozen per person. she absently wondered if Blaise’s mother liked the ones she sent


	8. Chapter 8

To say the end of holidays came too early was an understatement. But that wasn’t the biggest problem. On the day after they returned to school it was written in the Daily Prophet that there was a mass break out from Azkaban. All those that were actually guilty of being Death Eaters.

“What the hell is going on?” Hermione demanded frowning “Shouldn’t they be controlling this?!”

Nico came over to the table. He sat beside Hari looking confused “What are Death Eaters? No one in my House will explain, telling me I’m too young and much too fragile minded. Cedric was too bothered and distracted to explain.”

Hari was glaring at the page. “Do you remember that nightmare before holidays?”

Nico nodded

“The people in the white masks?”

Nico nodded again.

“Those were Death eaters.” Hari stated “These are just the ones that weren’t free to be there that night because they were locked up.”

Nico nodded again “So minions”

“Followers, worshipers, Corpse munchers. Pick a name. They generally work” Hari stated rudely.

Nico was giggling at the names she’d given them.

However, that morning they had a new teacher sitting in the line for the High table. An elderly witch with short grey hair and a pointed chin. It was announced that night that Hagrid had agreed to become an assistant to the new Care for Magical creatures, Professor Grubbly-Plank. It was so learned to be Professor Sterling’s idea. They implemented it after break.

Hari blinked as Susan Bones came up to her frowning, specifically working with her and Neville in Herbology. She’d been subjected to the crap that Hari had learned to ignore over the years, apologizing for ever thinking Hari enjoyed it. Hari smiled at her and told her just to wait it out. The school would get bored in about two months and then they’d leave her alone until a similar article came up again. Hopefully after that two months so she could have some quiet time.

Susan smiled.

Defense Lessons were going well. Hari had taken to planning out lessons and figuring everything out around Cedric’s Quidditch practices and other commitments. Nico’s training always came first. They normally had a ghost teaching them new tricks and it was interesting to say the least. Blaise had joined them in more then one training session. He was surprisingly good. Daphne wasn’t bad, she was a rapier fighter however which made training with them impossible.

Neville after one lesson while Cedric was walking Nico back to the dorms sat down sullen. Hari brought her knees to her chest and leaned on him. He smiled softly at her actions but it faded quickly “The Lestrange” he sounded tired and scared

Hari made a noise in her throat that told him she was listening.

Neville that blurted out everything. From his parents being tortured into insanity, how they were trapped in their own minds in a closed ward of St. Mungo’s. That he went to see them every break he could. He even showed her one of the bubble gum wrappers his mum had given him. He’d folded it into a flower shape. Apparently, his room was covered in them.

Hari put her head on his shoulder. He didn’t twitch but he did relax. “We will end his reign of terror. We will eliminate the Death eaters. The Lestrange will never be allowed to harm you if I can stop it.” Hari stated

“Thanks a lot, Hari” Neville said smiling leaning into her.

“Always” Hari muttered with a relaxed sigh. Neville laughed as Hari actually dozed off on his shoulder.

He woke her up after a bit and got her to the common room.

January passed in an odd pace. Care for Magical Creatures was very different with Grubby-Plank. Hari didn’t really want to admit it but she was an amazing teacher. Hagrid seemed to actually prefer being an assistant as he got to work with the older student who wanted to learn about the more dangerous creatures. But he also liked prepping for some classes. They were squishing a lot of creatures into the class though. 

The unicorns were fascinating. Hagrid had even impressed Grubby-Plank by managing to acquire Unicorn foals for the classes. Then it was nifflers, those were cool. Though watching Ron get seriously upset about the leprechaun gold vanishing was almost funny. They had just started Crups as they got into February. Apparently, she wanted to do Bowtruckles first but it was simply too cold for them to be out and about. Then the plan was Kneazles, knarls. Fire crabs, and if they had time, Murtlaps.

The group were doing a lesson in the Room of Requirement that really didn’t take a lot of focus, more aim. They all heard the strangled scream that came out of Hari. She was blushing to her ears and covering her mouth as Blaise actually looked slightly stunned.

“What happened?” Cedric asked as he’d been partnered up with Susan today to practice.

Blaise started laughing as Hari blushed even brighter “NOTHING!” she yelled out

Nico however spotted something “What’s up with the flower?”

She frowned looked around then Nico pointed to his hair. Hari touched her hair then found the flower in her hair. She took it out and her eyes went wide as it was a crimson rose. 

“So?” Blaise smirked

Hari blushed and ducked her head “Fine” she muttered

Blaise was ecstatic.

Cedric figured it out and snickered

“What?” Nico growled

Neville was right there too, asking what was up.

“I think Hari just got asked out on a date” Cedric said grinning

Dean blinked “That’s a first” he muttered which shocked everyone in the room but Neville.

“Yeah, especially when she asked him to the ball last year” Neville commented

They all shared a look. This could be interesting to say the least. Nico was not happy.

“Relax, this is Hari, she’s denser then a rock when it comes to this stuff” Cedric said ruffling his hair.

The others snorted “Yeah, an entire year around the great Krum and he asked out Granger” Daphne stated not impressed.

“Odd, I thought it was because Hari was competition” Neville said

Daphne face palmed “Boys”

Susan was giggling right along side her.

Before they knew it Hogmeade weekend was upon them. Hari felt seriously bothered as she left Nico behind at the school. The snickering from Cedric as she’d met up with him while they were signing out told her not to be. She learned that Nico had fallen asleep in the common room on a long pillow like cushion. They had covered him with a pile of blankets as they came to learn he got cold easily over the months. They had also set a silencing spell around the area as a lot of them liked to nap in that particular spot so he wouldn’t be disturbed.

Hari was mildly disturbed that they were having Valentines day on their Hogsmeade day, the worst part Blaise had asked to escort her for the day. There were all sorts of couples and pairs around. She was actually rather irked, as she noticed a few of them. Cedric was talking with a blushing Cho; Ginny was standing there with Corner. That was until a rose was stuck under her nose. She turned to see Blaise standing there holding it out to her with a cheeky ass grin on his face. Apparently, they had both taken care in dressing that morning. Though she was in more clothing. Hari was wrapped up in her leather coat with her cloak over top. Not that he was going to see her black jeans or the top she was wearing.

“Do I want to know?” She asked confused

“Nope” he said making her take the rose. They walked to Hogsmeade. Hari was seriously confused as nothing seemed to change but the rose in her hand. Neville was walking with Luna a bit away from them as they all headed into the village. They were talking plants of course. Hermione was slumping behind them arguing with Ron, which was odd even for them due to the sudden volume.

Hari walked around the village with Blaise. Hari picked up stuff for Nico as she always did now. They met Daphne along the way as she decided to piss off her current fling by hanging off Blaise. Hari didn’t care, used to her antics after five or so months. Blaise was a little annoyed but Hari was smiling so he let it go… barely.

Blaise grabbed Hari’s hand accidently getting skin contact with their wrists causing him to frown.

“Are you cold?” he asked

She blinked at him like the concept never occurred to her. “Yes, but the jacket is really warm so I’m good”

Blaise touched the back of her neck with a now ungloved hand, she was cool, like corpse cool…. “Have you ever had temperature issues?”

“Always, but I usually tune it out. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, why?”

“Because I’m fairly sure you’re the same temperature as a corpse” Blaise said frowning

“Is that why you feel really warm… actually the twins are like that too”

“Hang on a moment. Who exactly touches you?” Blaise asked frowning at her

“Dad, Nico, Fred and George, Sirius when I see him, Remus isn’t really all that touchy but he is getting better. Hermione avoids it and Ron stopped in our second year.” Hari stated not thinking much of it “oh and Neville. Luna’s started doing it too, now that I think about it”

Blaise looked at her, “Have you ever had your temperature taken?”

Hari shook her head, the rose tucked into her ponytail.

Daphne was done whatever she was doing at the shop window and tucked her arm in Hari’s. She frowned realizing Hari was in two over layers and heavy ones at that. “Warm?” she asked smiling

“No, a little chilly actually” Hari answered then the rains started making them flee into the Three Broomsticks.

They actually sighed at her as she didn’t shed a layer in the pub but was content to drink in her over layers.

Nico was awake and waiting for her on the Grand Staircase. He rubbed his eyes like he’d just woken up. Hari ran over to him and crouched in front of him telling him “Good morning.”

He echoed it in Italian, he was definitely tired if he was speaking Italian instead of English. She ruffled his hair and then stuck the coffee flavored chocolate under his nose. He perked up as she handed him the bar. They had been an odd limited edition at Honeydukes. Cedric was blushing as he and Cho walked in from their date. There were a lot of them today.

Blaise put his hand on Nico’s neck… it was also freezing cold. “I swear you too are half dead” Blaise stated annoyed…

“Well, I was born in the Underworld” Hari stated not even twitching

Nico shrugged “I’m the Son of The God of the Underworld… it comes with the territory”

“So, you don’t realize you both have lower then normal body temperatures?”

They blinked at him confused. So, no they really didn’t have a clue.

The next week passed as normal, Hari infinity glad she was not forced to attend Defense anymore. Otherwise the miserable week would have been way worse with Snape on a war path. Ever since the whole ‘Dad’ thing he’d been giving her nothing but grief. At least the rumors had stopped after Christmas.

The Hufflepuff verse Gryffindor match was happening the next week. Nico Refused to get out of bed. Cedric informer her of this before the match actually started, even before he’d even changed into his Quidditch robes. Hari wasn’t at all surprised.

She was sitting with Blaise. He was holding her hand and she knew she was smiling like a loon. Hari groaned as the match went on. It was twenty-two minutes of agony. The twins were on the other side of her covering their faces. “We should never have gotten out of bed” George stated

Hari cringed as Ginny was… good but so tentative. Their new beaters were absolutely lousy. And Ron… Ron was almost the worst of them. But unlike Kirke he stayed on his broom.

Hari ignored the toad in the front row that was smirking at her every few minutes. Blaise was smirking back as Hari was covering her eyes using his shoulder. He whispered lovely little things in her ear which made her and said ear turn bright red.

The match ended with Gryffindor only losing by ten points which was a miracle in itself. They left the pitch. Nico was waiting for them. A ghost had informed him that the match was done. Hari and Nico with Blaise in tow went to their usual haunt. Nico was playing with his ghost cat again in the grass and Blaise was playing with Hari’s hair. He had it perfect except for one curl. Hari and Nico were dying of laughter as Blaise was fighting with one of her curls, it was a day that it didn’t want to cooperate at all. Hearing the swear words, curses, and bribery that came out over a curl was far too entertaining for the siblings.

About a week later she stood in the entrance hall in shock, Nico at her side as they watched Trelawny get canned. It was not funny; it was actually infuriating. Umbridge was actually tossing the woman out of the castle not just firing her. Umbitch was enjoying the torture she was inflicting on the traumatized Seer. McGonagall walked up to the now sobbing seer and promised her she would not have to leave the castle.

That’s when Dumbledore arrived. He made a rather dramatic entrance from the doors outside. The light fog from the ground gave him a mysterious air. He then informed the toad that she may have the power to fire a teacher, she did not have the right to kick them out of the castle.

The dismissed Divination teacher was quickly gathered at Dumbledore’s request by McGonagall and Sprout before her and her things were escorted back upstairs.

Then Dumbledore dropped the bomb that sent Umbitch right off the deep end. He’d gone around her and hired a new Divination teacher. Though seeing Firenze as their new Divination teacher was interesting. He was the same as last year.

“He looks like Chiron” Nico commented as he was able to see the centaur.

“Yeah, he does” Hari said remembering meeting that centaur at the camp.

“Now I understand the mismatched centaur comment” Nico muttered; Hari smiled despite herself.

Two days later was their first lesson with the centaur. Hari let out a shocked and awed noise as they weren’t in a classroom but a forest clearing. There were still hints of the castle but it was still amazing to see a forest in a classroom.

The floor was covered in springy moss and trees were growing around the classroom. There were even leaves covering the windows making it feel like they were outside. They were all going to be sitting on the floor. Hari smiled as she took the offered hand of Firenze. She smiled and then found a seat leaning on a tree. They then had the strangest lesson in the history of Hogwarts in her mind. They lay on the moss and stared at the stars that had appeared on the ceiling. Firenze pretty much told them they would be going to war soon as Mars was shining bright above them. He’d said the same thing five years ago to Hari in the forest.

Hari jumped like most of the class when the bell rang, they had honestly forgotten they were in the school still.

As the month passed into the next Hari woke up to find Nico sleeping beside her in Firenze’s classroom with the centaur laying on the grass smiling at them. He was currently burning something sweet smelling.

“The young prince came in when Lunch started looking for you” Firenze stated with a soft smile.

Hari frowned rubbing her eyes. “Prince?” She asked confused

“Yes, as you are the Crown Princess, and him being your father’s son makes him a Prince” Firenze stated

“You know who I am?” Hari asked nervous now

“Yes, since I saw you five years ago when you first entered the forest looking for the unicorn. A Daughter of the Underworld, to think you survived outside of the protections for so long was startling. We had not even been told of your presence. Pluto was hiding you from sight.”

Hari frowned but then had to wake up Nico as classes were about to start again. The demi-gods walked out of the class. Hari looked back at Firenze “Did you save me because of who my father was?” Hari asked

“Yes, and who my grandfather is.” Firenze stated “We descendants of Chiron are instilled with the need and want to protect Demi-gods. Regardless of the risks.”

Hari bowed her head to him “Thank you” she said then they walked out, Nico looking at them confused.

Hari did as little explain as she could manage. But Nico managed to get the full story out of her eventually. Mostly It took a fair amount of consistent prodding.


	9. Chapter 9

As March turned to April Hari’s stress levels hit a new record. Though it was Hannah Abbott that had the first break down.

Hari was laying on the grass flopped out ignoring her homework. Her group was learning Patronuses, because they wanted to learn once they all found out she could produce one. Susan was especially excited to hear that. She’d even written her aunt about it.

Hari was taking a break as they were fighting with the spells. Even Nico was into it. She sat up and corrected Neville’s stance “Neville come here a second, Actually Susan you too”

They frowned as they sat on the grass in front of Hari. “Alright, you two have it the hardest. I’ll teach you the trick I used when I first started. It’s not exactly a memory so you have to really focus”

They nodded. The others also came over to listen. Nico was sitting leaning into her side as she absently wrapped an arm around him.

“Think of your families, standing beside you. Just being there. Able to talk as you want. To tell them everything and hearing them just answer.” Hari said smiling sadly “It’s hard to do without crying the first few times but it is a very powerful response”

The others all frowned thinking it odd that they would need those memories. Neville and Susan were crying as they finally managed their first corporals Patronus.

Neville’s was a lion and Susan’s was a squirrel. They laughed as they cried.

Cedric smiled as he was looking at a badger. Blaise was rather impressed as he was standing with a wolf at his side. Daphne was grinning with her leopard. Luna got a hare. The twins ended up with a pair of Jaguars which confused everyone, them included. Lee had an over excitable owl. Dean’s turned out to be a Falcon. Nico smiled sheepishly as he was standing beside a Cerberus. She actually expected that one.

They called it for the day as the teachers were getting on everyone’s nerve, with exams coming up it was hard to do anything. Blaise was working with Nico today on with fighting an opponent that was bigger and stronger, not that that was hard to find against the Hades siblings. Hari was off to the side testing her archery skills.

Hari blinked the following morning when the notice that Dumbledore had been replaced by Delores Umbridge went up.

“What happened?” Hari asked seriously confused

“Dumbledore fled when the Minister found out he was creating an army” Dean said, he’d heard it from an older student.

Hari walked over to Hermione and stood over her in the common room “You started that group, didn’t you?” she asked… it was a demand and everyone knew it. The normally way warmer then normal common room now felt like outside.

Hermione blushed then looked proud of herself “Teaching wasn’t that hard once I figured it out.”

“What did you do?” Hari demanded, the tone in her voice got colder.

“I made sure we could defend ourselves. So, We could pass our O.W.L.s Unlike you!” Hermione yelled standing up. The two girls were glaring at each other. Though it was pretty obvious who was winning. Hermione was trembling like Hari. Hari took a sharp turn on her heel and walked out of the common room.

She was sitting and about to eat in a dark mood. Hari blinked and stood as Nico walked in with a drink cup from a fast food place… Hari walked up to him hands on hips “You slipped outside of the school for a happy Meal?” she asked Darkly

He looked at the cup then at his sister’s face. “No” he said slowly and quietly

She just raised an eyebrow. She sighed shaking her head like a proper older sibling… not that she wasn’t in her own head complaining that he hadn’t invited her. She wasn’t too into the food or the toy but hell if she didn’t want out of the castle. Especially now that Umbridge was in charge. The rules had suddenly changed.

Hari also saw what Hermione did to the girl that told on the D.A. Ginny explained everything to her when she was pressed. Hari stormed up to the hospital wing where the girl was hiding. She was Cho’s friend but Hari didn’t care. She calmed Marietta down enough that she could see the girl’s face. It infuriated Hari to know Hermione could do something like this. She wasn’t as surprised as she should have been though.

“Did you drink or eat anything Umbitch gave you?”

Madame Pomfrey looked on curious.

Marietta nodded

Hari sighed “I’m going to strangle her” she muttered darkly then touched the spots spelling out ‘SNEAK’ on the Ravenclaw’s face. Hari twisted the curse, as that’s what it was. It was easy once she got it all simply to remove it. Marietta would have a horrible case of acne for about two weeks but it was better that what Hermione had done. Marietta was crying and thanking her. Hari patted her shoulder and walked out. Comforting anyone but Nico felt awkward to her.

Hari learned that Inquisition squad, a brand-new thing could take points, when she came down the stairs… only this started a fight with the twins. Malfoy was not on it but his girlfriend Pansy was.

Now the epicness that was the twins was brilliant. Hari raced out to see what was going on during lunch. Nico was standing beside her while Cedric with Blaise right beside him watched from behind her.

What proceeded was completely and utterly a showcase of what the twins could do with fireworks. They were all over the school by the afternoon and the teachers took rather gleeful fun making Umbridge run around taking care of them as she was so upset about them and the Professors kept telling her that it wasn’t their job.

Umbridge was getting uppity and Hari wasn’t all that bothered. She was seriously debating coming back next year.

“What’s wrong?” Nico asked grabbing a handful of chips from his newest happy meal. One she’d joined him on going to go get.

Hari looked at her burger. They’d shadow travelled to London to get the greasy food then shadow traveled back to school.

“I don’t want to come back next year. We can get the best tutors from the Underworld. Or even other countries.” She explained “Here… it’s not worth it. Dad’s had to re-do most of my education. I was lacking before Hogwarts now I’m even more behind. It’s not even worth it anymore”

“I think much the same” Luna said sitting down beside her. “I want to leave” Luna curled her arms around her knees. “I don’t want to be a responsible adult that makes sure my dad has everything he needs.”

“My sister thought the same thing and joined the Hunters of Artemis” Nico muttered annoyed

Luna looked at him curious. “She still takes Hunters?”

Hari nodded. Nico was seething beside her depressed as Hari told her what she knew.

Luna smiled dreamily “I would love to join the Hunt” she said happily

They were all startled by the woman that appeared out of the forest with another girl.

“Thalia” Nico said glaring

“I heard you child; will you join my Hunt?” The Goddess asked softly looking only at Luna

Luna stood up and then fell to one knee in front of the Goddess of the Hunt. “I do” Luna said looking the Goddess in the eye.

Nico was pissed off as Luna took the oath. Hari said nothing

Luna looked at her and smiled “I’m not sorry. But I’ll apologize to my father when I see him next”

Hari nodded “Good Luck to you Luna” Hari stated smiling sadly “I’ll see you again” she passed a bangle to the girl. Luna beamed at her and slipped it on her wrist. Artemis nodded to Hari, who nodded back as a sign of respect.

Luna gave her a beaming smile before she joined the Hunt. The Hunters all greeted her before they were off into the woods.

The approach of Easter holidays was seriously depressing without Luna in the castle. The Ravenclaws had gathered her things and shipped them home to her father. They were acting like she was dead. Nico was seriously disturbed by this and Hari was just pissed off. If this was how school was going to be for the next two and a half years she was Done.

They went home for Easter holidays. Cedric was frowning as Nico was packing everything. Including the statue, he kept on his bedside. One of their artists had set it into a wire frame so Nico could wear it on a chain, that he did constantly.

The Gryffindors didn’t think anything of Hari packing up. They had been expecting it as she’d been muttering about going home for the last week.

Hari and Nico didn’t even hesitate to shadow travel home, they skipped the train all together. Hades could tell his kids were seriously bothered. Seeing his daughter refusing to get out of bed for three days was unusual. Max who’d learned to change his size was on her bed with her while Nico was training himself to exhaustion with his instructors.

“Alright, what happened?” Hades asked sitting on his daughter’s bed as she faced the opposite way.

Hari sobbed out what Luna had done. That there were only five people in the castle right now she even cared about. Then there were the double handful of people she thought about and that was it. She was ready to walk away from them all in a heartbeat.

Hades stroked her hair. It was the only thing he could do as she kept sobbing. He then left. There was something he could do. She said five and he got their names from her. He matched up their souls and created rings for them, if they fell, they would land in the castle, not at the gates. He told the same to Nico and he only had one from school that he didn’t share with Hari.

Hades told them both, they were not going back. To write letters to those they wanted to say good-bye too. He also gave them the rings tied to their people. They wrote the letters and Hades had Alecto deliver them. There was nothing of them left at the schools. Except Hedwig who’d stuck to the twins. Hari said it was fine. The twins would need the owl’s help soon enough.

When Alecto walked into Hogwarts right after the Easter holiday was over, she was not impressed. She was dressed as a little old lady, mostly because everything else was effort for her. She found the students she was supposed to. Each of them looked at the letters confused before their eyes went wide and they ripped them open. They were more interested in the letters then the rings inside them.

Neville Longbottom sank down on a nearby bench and kept re-reading the letting clutching the ring in his hand then he cried. She walked away with a little mist to hide the sobbing child. Only the set of Ginger twins with the split ring found him and sat on either side of him. Cedric and Meg found them with their own letters, Cedric had two, one from each of them. Blaise himself had walked away and was hiding in his bed. Draco walked in and was being nasty only him and Theo barely managed to dodge the knife that flew at their heads.

“Whoa, Zabini. No throwing knives around”

Blaise was glaring red fire “Shut the Fuck Up Ferret”

“What is your problem?!” Draco snarled

“Hari’s quit school.” Blaise said quietly “She’s not …” Blaise trailed off looking at the ring in his palm. “She’s gone home”

“What? To the muggles? Or with my dear cousin?”

“Her Father’s” Blaise looked at the letter he stood up and walked out. The letter clutched in his hand. He found the others at dinner. Neville was puffy eyed from crying. He’d been like this after Luna left too. The twins were twitchy as all hell and pissed. They were glaring at toady more then normal whispering feverishly together even leaving out Lee at the moment. Cedric smiled sadly at him.

“I got a letter from both of them. Hari and Nico” Cedric stated

Blaise looked at the ring on his hand. They all had them. Marks that Nico and Hari hadn’t been ghosts.

Toady was sitting in Dumbledore’s seat and Blaise in his own mind could not see the damn difference. “Did Nico bond to anyone here?”

“Meg, that was it and they are both… anti-social. She could be anywhere it wouldn’t matter to her.” Cedric stated “Her family was only willing to place her here because of Dumbledore” Cedric said quietly

“Get her out of the school. Send her to Beauxbaton. This school won’t be safe come next year. If the rest of the year.”

“Umbridge will have to be dealt with.” Cedric agreed.

Blaise looked at the toad that had caused Hari so much pain. “I’ll deal with the pink toad, Personally”

Cedric did not want to know. Blaise got a dark smirk that spread across his face; he wasn’t the damn Son of Mars for nothing. The worst part was, Love usually got them the worst. Blaise walked over to the twins and suddenly the plotting was happening. They had it all figured out. Umbridge was going to suffer slowly, painfully and with great pleasure for anyone watching.

Alecto however was standing in The new Headmistress’s office and looked very displeased. The pink thing, that was a torture all on her own, was refusing to return her Princess’s Broomstick. It was honestly the only thing she was missing. Hari had forgotten about it but made a comment about how her godfather had given it to her. 

“Very well. If you will not return it, I will go and take it” The Fury stated removing her guise and looking ugly as she shattered the window in the office and finding the broomsticks... there were three and she released them all. With a basic return spell on them. Nothing difficult. She took the only one that she knew belonged to the Princess and left.

Hari looked at her a little stunned when Alecto arrived with it but thanked her none the less. They broom was tucked away.

The Underworld was holding it’s breath. The war would start soon enough.


End file.
